I put a bandanna in my purse
on the way out the door
reflexively
Because if there is teargas
you want to cover your mouth and nose
Because I was going out to an event
and I don't go to events anymore
where we don't worry about teargas
and nazis
There were people spraypainting signs
NO FASCISM and SOLIDARITY WITH CHARLOTTESVILLE
but there were no cops there
except the ones blocking traffic
and the dumptrucks they used to close the road
were too much like the ones they used
to block off the protesters from traffic
for fear of another Charlottesville
This is my whole life now
Everything is protests or politics or echoes of both
and even the places I escape to
are reflections of the fear and rage
the banshee wail I can't ever get out
and can never walk away from
it's become second nature
reflex
Because for two years there has been
a quiet war
And we fight it with cardboard
and bullhorns
and bandannas
And then one day, you're heaving bricks and dousing pricks in Easy Off.