I’m introducing a new segment to this substack space… a poetry reading! Today’s post is a preview for what’s to come. Poetry readings will only be available to paid subscribers. Your financial support helps me create poetry, essays, and podcasts. Would you consider becoming a paid subscriber today?

the most in vogue trend is how we use a word to describethe end of everything we know. "late stage capitalism" has become an outfit. some wear the word like haute couture,others hobble it together without tact & there are those who dress it like neon. it's the latest statement piece to throw intothe conversation. Ruffles, lace, and late stage capitalism.I do not care about the conversations people have or the intellectualwars that create fertile grounds for narcissistic personalities.they way you string words together to make hollow epithets make youlook like the emperor in his new robes: naked, pompous and ignorant.I hate that a free market is so poisonous that we cannot pursuecollective wellbeing without someone advertising a shiny new thing.I hate that justice is a struggle and, to the dismay of our ancestors,it's become a wealth-mongering hustle. What happened to the power of the people over the privilege of the pocket?did it die when the cops killed our children?what I hate the most is that people do not yet understandhow an economy that needs exploitation to flourish set a platformto villainies consent and bodily autonomywhat I hate the most is how policing abortion means prisons willbe built to house birthing bodies that couldn't choose their fatewhat I hate the most is how prison labor givesFortune500 companies profit for pennies on the dollarwhat I hate the most is how demonizing trans bodiesand trans-affirming families will turn prisons into generational interment camps. The camps that separatemigrant families will become replicated and reinstated.what I hate the most is how the oligarchs believe the conceivable cure for late stage capitalism is more prisonssome use this term as if it makes their tongue so fancyI speak of it with grief, knowing that we are a countryreliant on concentration camps to revive a dying economyfoolish emperor, bite your tongue and remove your invisible garmentsit is better to be naked and learning from the people already breaking chains

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit camillehernandez.substack.com/subscribe