I Am

ULYSSES PAGAN

I am the stress that gnaws away at a warm-hearted, insomniac mother with a green thumb 

I am the slipped disc in the spine of my secretly handicapped father working construction 

I am the epilepsy that surges through the brain of my twelve-year-old brother with Down syndrome 

I am the addiction demon that crawls into the dreams of my older brother 

I am the stroke that snatched the life of my high school Environmental Biology teacher 

I am the last tree on this barren Earth 

I am the one and a half Earths that we need to sustain the population 

I am the filthy homeless man that you forgot about after a few minutes 

I am the thugs that found a survival family in the projects 

I am the infant separated from his immigrant mother 

I am the hollow cheeks of starvation that take a soul every four seconds 

I am the one billion that have no drinking water 

I am the anxiety that dwells in the pit of your stomach 

I am the deeply rooted scars on your daughter’s wrist 

I am the depression that lives under the skin of the helpless 

I am the material world 

I am the meaningless robotic communication 

I am the loss of empathy 

I am the makeup you use to hide your identity 

I am the boy that was born wielding a .22 

I am the bullet that pierces your son’s skull in Iran 

I am the grenade that disintegrated your cousin’s left leg 

I am the city that is now nuclear dust 

I am the diabolic stick that possesses your lungs 

I am the enchanting red pill that relieves your high blood pressure 

I am the prohibited cures for cancer 

I am the face of autism 

I am the bitter-sweet poison you call food 

I am the health you will never dream of affording 

I am the few corporations that represent ninety percent of your information diet 

I am the one percent that owns half the world’s wealth 

I am the all-seeing eye 

... But just kidding, that’s not me; now do me a favor... 

Don’t read. 

Watch the news 

Watch these muscular guys throw around this football thing 

And watch Kim Kardashian take a dump on her royal toilet