SUNDAY THOUGHTS : 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

Maybe, this time, you will see

When it comes to disparity

It’s best not to keep score

Or think your status spares you from

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

And please, for Christ’s sake don’t you dare

Find new accessories to wear

BLUE beads? 

Go read a book

Find one about the slave trade, then

Make note of the Caribbean 

Skip the performative, my friend

Go on. Go take a look.

Blue Beads

VRWc2024