Poem
Always in relation
Is what any one is
& change happens
Only in relations
Limited by what
Structures
Life
What naturalizes
Time & makes it
So important
Money
What racializes
Through institutions
Policing
Borders
The work you do
Without regard
For what’s legal
What regulates
The state
That isn’t above
Criminalizing
The work you do
For the sake
Of a jobs program
Copyright © 2023 by Wendy Trevino. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on June 16, 2023, by the Academy of American Poets.