Poem in Solidarity

Self Destruction (in solidarity with people rising up against oppression and with a nod to Audre Lorde)

I sit

in the adopted country

I love.

 I watch

the ongoing self-destruction

of the country I have never loved

but was born into and understand so well.

I listen

to the anguish

of those who

have always known

they were never meant to survive.

I see

the incredulity and fear

of those who

thought their country

was something different

even though this

is what it has always been.

I am reminded

that all politics 

is identity politics

and only one identity

decides how things 

should be,

who belongs where,

who gets to take 

a knee

and who gets to breathe.

If your skin is light enough

(or even sickly orange)

you decide

which of your weapons 

to use

in any given moment

and for whatever reason

you choose

while pretending 

you’re a patriot.

What are you in the mood for today?

Your voice?

Your position?

Your propaganda?

Your politics?

Your knees?

Your guns?

All of the above?

Each day you speak

and oppress

and deny basic rights

to humans you despise

and fear.

And when people

keep on surviving

you look for excuses

to kneel on their necks

and make the metaphor real.

And when that doesn’t work

you turn to your weapons 

of war

and even 

weapons illegal

in war.

I consider

as I sit here

how everything depends

on which side of the gun

you’re standing.

2 June 2020

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