'Be anxious for nothing..." ~Philippians 4:6

Saturday, June 25, 2022

QUARANTINE LIFE: POETRY PROMPT ---ALLIES


ALLIES

So busy trying to keep me down

Now you’re down there on the ground

Looking up at me

Begging me to bear your cross

As if my life is void of loss

And marked by liberty


All day you cried, “What shall we do?”

Exactly who is “we” to you?

There’s always been a plan

You see, you chose to look away

Never saw yourself in the fray

We doubt you ever can


Now, you seek community 

Now, you preach solidarity 

Where on Earth have you been?

For years, so many marched and cried

Sacrificed; laid down their lives

Without ally, or friend

You’ve benefited from their fight

Without acknowledging their plight

You’ve always reaped the spoils

Then, happily retreated to

Spaces that insulated you

And shielded you from toil


Your precious votes, you threw away

Consistent, you could never stay

Said one thing, did much worse

Every time you could have helped

You wouldn’t even help yourself

Spewed big lies, line and verse


You helped create the mess we’re in

We’ve warned you time and time again

Ours is a shared plight

But, you played down others’ distress

Wallowed in fake happiness

Too entitled to fight


Now, the powers you defend

Whose cruelty you now condemn 

Has set its sights on you

To carry out their evil schemes

I know—not even in your dreams

Did you think they meant you

When they were plotting who should be

Second-class in society

Stripped swiftly of autonomy

You assumed they meant me


You were warned this day would come

It’s not a shock to everyone 

Certainly, not to those

Who’ve had a history of lack

Of two steps forward; ten steps back

Orchestrated by men

Whose bigotry colors their schemes

For whom, power by any means

Is their favorite sin


And like them, you decline to act

Until the knife is in your back

The peril at your door

Hopefully, this time, you will see

When it comes to disparity

It’s best not to keep score

Or think your status spares you from

The injustices that everyone 

Unlike you, knows full well

Stop trying to rewrite history 

The guilt and shame you hate to feel

Have a story to tell




VRWc2023

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