the blueshift journal
blueshift / ˈblo͞oˌSHift / noun
the displacement of the spectrum to shorter wavelengths in the light coming from distant celestial objects moving toward the observer.
/ which begins / with the Roman history professor / saying he got stopped / by the cops / the night before / and of course / your default / in this situation / is to shrink / because of course / he is white / like most of the bodies / in this class / and his voice / does not sound / like anyone you know / who has been stopped / by the law / which is to say / his voice balloons / floats / is not snatched / so quickly / out his lungs / that blood / still drips from it / which is to say / he brags / he’s never been stopped / by police before / “i’m the least / threatening person / possible” / he says / and of course / so were you / the first time / a cops hands / squeezed every part / of your body / as if / you could hide a gun / in your bones / every cell / is a weapon / every atom / is resisting arrest / and you wish it would end / but the class / keeps laughing about it / as if trayvon’s killer / isn’t about / to go on trial / and you look / to the only other black person / in this class / but of course / she’s silent too / after all / we pay respects / to our dead / we mind the dirt / from these upturned graves / caking the walls / of this classroom / say a prayer for the bodies / still / fresh / laid out before us / and clean up the mess / after all / it’s time / for today’s discussion / to begin