Friday, January 06, 2012

New poem

Here is a new poem I just wrote:


NDAA

Don’t get it twisted
I’m a terrorist
I am someone to be feared
to be avoided
flee from me
when you face me
in the dark alleyways
at midnight

Yes please run from this crippled terrorist
Who puts thoughts in your head
Too awful to pronounce
like “What if I got around in a wheelchair like he does?”
or “What if I relied on an iPad to speak?”
“Heavens forbid if I drooled a little in public”

How dare I terrorize you
tonight in this club
you see me gig in the club
but this sight makes you uneasy
because I could get hurt
from the massing bodies around me

because really
isn’t there a place for me
in some nursing home
where I will be supervised 24/7
being fed industrial lime green jello
until I die

isn’t this what all terrorist deserved
to be locked away from public view
where we cannot harm or interact with
the innocent populace
so what if a prisoner from Guantanamo Bay gets water boarded
so what if a person in a nursing home gets to shower once a month
it is what we deserve

we should be locked away forever
without charge or trial
we with broken and proud bodies
that hold our heads high
so you can be safe
in the dark alleyways
at midnight
Lock us up
the other boogiemen
the black criminal
the illegal immigrant
the Muslim extremist
fill your jails and institutions
with our brown and black bodies
and force feed us that industrial jello
until we puke up that green sloppy mess

Even in our peaceful protest
you see danger
because if we prop up a tent in a park
in defiance
of our
stolen homes
stolen jobs
stolen wages
you send in the cops
to beat our heads with billy clubs
spray our eyes with mace
strangle our wrists with cuffs
because behind bars
you can’t hear our cries

You have to feel safe
from us
because see
if we started to converse
you might not see me as a terrorist
you might just see me as a man
who is a son
a brother
a friend
a lover
and that’s dangerous
because our society
counts on locking up
our sons
brothers
friends
lovers
to survive

So the next time
you see me
think is your patriotic duty
to clutch your purse
to walk the other way
when walking down the dark alleyway
at midnight
because I told you
I’m a terrorist

3 Comments:

At 8:42 PM, Blogger World Enabled said...

This is a very powerful poem. The words echo the sentiment of our time, a time of inequality, fear and exclusion. A time where we are building up more walls than building up our understanding, our ourselves and of each other. Through these words we come to understand the forces of oppression and depression. We come to understand darkness and resilience is one.

 
At 7:44 AM, Blogger athletic said...

I like your writings of any type.

 
At 4:51 PM, Blogger sbn slp said...

You are brilliant, Lateef.
I would also add, brave, sensitive, incredibly intelligent, deserving of deep loving and loaded with chutzpah!
Many hugs. So glad I knew you when....
susan, SLP

 

Post a Comment

<< Home