45.5231° N, 122.6765° W

Portland, Oregon, United States of America:

Home of roses, rivers and rain.

Green crosses stand statuesque on every corner,

The spirituality of self medication.

We pride ourselves on inclusivity,

Bearing pussy hats and welcome signs.

One month of black history

Followed by 11 months of white.

Are we a sanctuary city

For undocumented immigrants,

Or for people who want to label themselves

Activists?

 

The threat to humanity threatens our reputation.

We stretch a bumper sticker across the poverty line,

“Keep Portland Weird” serves as a bandaid

over a broken bone.

We don’t discriminate...

In broad daylight.

72% white, 28% willing to listen.

What culture do we have

That wasn’t razed by a forest fire?

 

Welcome to the Portland Metro Area,

8,000 homeless students

Fed only by our unwillingness to face a problem.

Safety is considered a privilege as darkness falls.

Able bodies require three seats on trimet

God forbid their thrifting purchases gather dust on the floor.

Portland is the best city in the US, well...

For visiting strip clubs.

Our speech is so free

We have lost the ability to regulate a pimp’s home base.

3,186 cases of sex trafficking in one year,

We’ll take the blue ribbon and continue

glossing over the important stuff.

 

It’s easier to trade a 15 year old girl

Than a bag of cocaine,

So where is our war on violence?

 

Fists raised in peaceful protest disappear behind clouds of tear gas,

Swastikas appear on bathroom doors of our neighborhood high schools,

Innocent lives lie on the other side of machine guns no human being should keep in their home.

We whisper derogatory words to backsides,

Foreign students are raised on laughter at their pronunciation:

Portland may be inclusive,

But we are not intersectional.

 

The Oregon trail led to freedom of property

But we have a long way to go before reaching true freedom.

Before our labor exploitation drops below four digits,

Before our teens understand consent,

Before our paychecks are equal.

 

The first step is acknowledging we have a problem.

It’s time to put the welfare of the people

Above the welfare of the wealthy.