Dreaming to NPR

I am dressed up, excited.
A class trip to Barack’s and Michelle’s house
to watch the stars on the south lawn.
I walk through the market
searching for…a gift? A snack?
A rutabaga and strange fruit
weigh down my basket.

I ask a foreign lady where to pay.
Her detainee bracelet blinks green
then turns red when we go to the register.
I hold a cup in my left hand,
something clamped to my side.
I stand in line…waiting to pay?
Waiting for fried apples? Waiting for…

A train arrives at the platform.
A young man walks to the front,
shows the conductor his comic book, then boards.
I pull out the comic book tucked under my arm
and do the same. A sea of excited faces
looks back at me. They are all Black.
I overhear some students say
the school board voted out diversity.

I walk in the dark rain, my head down.
That cute boy from school bounds across the street,
lifts my chin with his finger.
We won the Nobel Prize!
He breaks out in song,
“I Love a Rainy Night” and I join in.

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The NPR stories that must have influenced this dream:
Astronomy Night on the White House Lawn
Immigration Detention
Voters Reject Wake Schools Diversity Policy
Nobel Prize for Chemistry
Jane Lynch from "Glee"