can you see me now?

I hold a picture from a distance of one metre
Of a smiling man
I ask you what you think of it-
You say
“It’s cute”
So
I hold the same picture from the distance of 50 centimetres
I ask you again
You say
“Nothing out of the ordinary.”

You look at me perplexed as I slowly glide towards you
violating your private bubble as
I hold it again from the distance of 30
centimetres.

You notice in the background
a swastika is branded
on the sleeve of the man
He is tattooed and bald and very pale
He is at a neo-naxi rally
And you can see
If you squint real carefully
You can make out a
“Make America Great Again” sticker.

I’m asking you to look a little closer
at every little thing
because you’ll never know what
you’re not seeing
unless you leave your comfort zone.