America Is Waiting

By Georg Koszulinski

maybe it’s the white bodies
leaving the ball

or maybe it’s the tuxedos
and gowns that walk like
ghosts across the mall

maybe it’s the black bodies
chained across checkpoints
subverting iconographies
of hate

or maybe it’s the cops
who stand in silent symmetries
beneath the rain

maybe it’s the sadness
in their eyes—
the dreams they sense
were always lies

maybe it’s the protestors
who take to street in
dark of light

the man with movie camera
who walks among them—
shadows, voices, line of sight

maybe it’s the war veteran
deaf in left ear—
metaphors find their way
into lived experience

maybe it’s the young woman
who lost her friend to
mass arrest

she tries to breathe, believe,
reprieve

maybe it’s the parade of state
cavalry, missiles, golden
power shower

maybe it’s the communion of souls
in the crossroads of the streets

the man singing in Mandarin
before the camera—
not knowing the words
we believe he sings
for peace

maybe the voice was the first weapon—
no shield against the
sounds of aggression

maybe the voice
was first song—
to breathe, to sound
commune as one

January 20, 2017, Washington, DC

Georg has been making films and videos since 1999. His award-winning works have been presented at hundreds of universities and film festivals around the world, most recently at the Atlanta Film Festival, San Francisco DocFest, and Experiments in Cinema. Many of his documentaries and experimental essay films are also available through Fandor. His nonfiction and poetry have been published in Gold Man Review, Blue Collar Review and Blotterature Literary Magazine. His current documentary project, White Ravens: A Legacy of Resistance focuses on the Haida Nation and the cultural resurgence taking place on their islands of Haida Gwaii. Georg is an Assistant Professor of Film Studies at the University of North Carolina Wilmington where he teaches filmmaking.

Image credit: A still from Georg’s documentary America Is Waiting. View the  trailer here.

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