commerce street

it is not an unfair name—

it was a place of commerce and trade and all the fiddly little words

one uses when they are trying to distance themself from the truth of the matter,

the truth that this commerce and trade were wrought with human capital

threaded under the streets

yeah, because court square fountain, all gleaming and glorious under the burning alabama sun,

stands on what was once an auction block. 

[what are we honouring here? what are we trying to convince ourselves?]