RH
A note from Dr. Hendrix
This poem came out raw — a boot pressing down on the neck, and the question of what exactly it is we are all feeling under the weight of this age. I wrote it because sometimes only the compression of a poem can hold what plain prose lets slip away.
— Dr. Roger Hendrix · We share these stories so you can know the family behind GreenTeaHP.
Cen
tral
Zio
nation
I suit up
I’m suited up
But I feel a boot
pressing
down on
my neck
Do you
feel
that heel
pressing down
on your neck?
What do you think it is?
Yes, yes, It’s a heel
I feel
But why is it
pressing
down so hard?
Is it a new age?
Is it rage?
Is it the massess
in a rage
in a new age?
I see moms and dads
crying
Rock stars
singing
Poets
professing
Geneticists
discovering
Scholars
sharing
No, no it’s not a heel
I feel
I think It’s my heart
tearing apart
* (This poem was written after I saw the documentary, Believer, on HBO. We want our LGBT friends to remain safe, and not feel they need to contemplate suicide.)