When everything is torn away from you,
when the tapestry of your life is unraveled thread by thread,
what is yours to hold?
Your name,
the one with a cultural meaning that has become heavily shadowed,
is not yours anymore.
That was one of the first things they replaced.
Your native language is not yours, either.
Seclusion and shame are now the price to pay for speaking your mother tongue.
Your clothing is not even yours,
all garments of a foreign land.
They are constricting and unfamiliar.
Your education is no longer yours,
as they've changed the school system to only serve them.
You are left with nothing and cannot hold on to anything.
The tapestry has been ripped to shreds and is thought to be beyond repair.
How could you maintain your sense of identity,
when they proclaim it's not yours anymore?
Beat the drums; aye, beat the drums!
Make them go stark raving mad—
These likes of Emperor Jones. 1
The criminals' courts play house.
Adzes don't cut their own tails. 2
Where are Clinton, Bush, and Trump? 3
'We' are the people, the mob. 4
'We' are judges; 'we' punish.
They should be ripped limb from limb.
Peaceful rallies will not do.
The criminals we'll tear up
On the streets across the globe.
Over!
1.14.2024
1 See The Emperor Jones, a short play by Eugene O'Neill.
2 A Persian adage
3 Three of the infamous slaughterers of the Bosnians, Afghans, Iraqis, and Syrians
4 See "I am the People, the Mob” by Carl Sandburg.
No comments, please!
I know a place where imperialism is hated
So much because majority people don't enjoy
From that system.The place is called,
"Africa"...Where many people praying for its death daily.
I know a place where racism is a popular song,
Majority people speaking about racism here and there
That place is called" South Africa." Majority big
Companies & farms own by some people of same race.
I know a place where tribalism is like musics.
Tribal conflicts rise most times in certain countries,
That place is called "Africa." Most masterminds
Of those conflicts and other troubles are outsiders
May 26/2023
Written for poetry contest sponsored
by Edward Ibeh
Chosen tlitle: I KNOW A PLACE
Your country has laws
freedom and rights
that lead to the courts
who settle up fights
You think it’s a given
yet see it unfair
determined and driven
but going nowhere
A victim of racism
keeps you beneath
prevented by sexism
seeking relief
being gay is illegal
in the land of Qatar
women ain’t equal
put behind bars
Issue ultimatum
as if it’s our place
try and persuade them
it’s all in poor taste
We used to invade them
back in the day
a land they’ve retaken
to get their own way
But now we are forcing
the way of the west
without our armed forces
because we know best
We had no right
to rule over them
this time we’re polite
as we do it again
It isn’t our place
it never will be
so as for poor taste
how stupid are we
Someone tells people what they should be
And they nod without hesitation
Slaves of alien mentality
Like the crave for fad and fashion
The sphere of modern imperialism
Is far reaching to invade human mind
Chauvinism, ethnocentrism
Puppets played from behind
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