If you invest, you won't need 40 acres and a mule by Ellen June Wright

Image via Joe Dudeck on Unsplash

after Special Field Orders No. 15, 1865

​You won't need no reparations · though you deserve them · just $100 every month · invested wisely · nothing risky · slow and steady wins the race · $100 every month · when you turn 18 even 21 · Let it ride and you won't need · to plow behind some jackass · you won't need to plant nobody's cotton · nobody's tobacco · you won't need to scrub nobody's floor · or work three jobs when you’re old ·  work yourself to death · $100 every month · when you're 18 even 21 · Let it ride · nothing risky · slow and steady wins this race ·set it and forget it · automate your own reparations · They don't teach you that in school · we're not supposed to win · supposed to stay silent soulless · cogs in the machine · You won’t cower sittin’ on FU money · three million · hate the player · don't hate the game · Learn the rules · Learn to win · $100 every month · $25 every week · when you're 18 even 21 · invested wisely · nothing risky · slow and steady wins this race · you won't need no reparations · you won't need 40 acres · and a dusty mule · We waited 150 · years for something that ain't coming · in the meantime · grow rich slowly · don't let them see you stack your bills · don't flaunt your wealth · The powers-that-be will scare · change it up · make it harder · Stealth wealth · is what you want · for yourself · for your children · teach them $100 every month at 18 even 21 · yields millions · so when their muscles ache · arthritic joints inflamed · brittle bones tire of working · they can sit a spell · rock on a porch · like every-tired-body else · Just $100 every month · start at 18 or even 21.

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Ellen June Wright's first collection, Angela, is from Lily Poetry Review Books. Her chapbook, Laure, was a finalist in the Adrift 2025 chapbook contest. Her work has been published in POETRY Magazine, The American Poetry Review, Plume, The Missouri Review, Caribbean Writer, Obsidian, and Callaloo. She's a Cave Canem and Hurston/Wright alumna, having received several Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominations. Wright also hosts a weekly workshop for Black poets!