Traditions celebrate pride, not superiority
They connect through joy, not just tragedy
Sharing traditions melts away barriers
Isolation embraces superiority
While tragedy yearns for comfort
Cross pollination incinerates hatred
And coaxes many peoples along
How long must the lists grow
Lists of inhumanity and villains
Raise your voices, bang your drums
Dance!
The front window-sills of houses
In Noe Valley,
San Francisco’s
High-end suburb on the hill
Above the Mission,
Are galleries for
Placards these days.
Held fast to pane glass with Scotch Tape
Are tack-board admonishments
To neighbours unnerved by
The continued march of Corona,
Bearing words that soothe:
EVERYTHING WILL BE OK.
WE WILL SURVIVE.
WE WILL GET THROUGH THIS.
And then, Mister
Teddy Bear makes his appearance.
Stuffed wool, thread and varnished button eyes
Comprises our friend’s being.
Little Teddy sits
In the window-sill of a house
Soaking up the morning sun,
Just chilling, passing small
Children on Jersey Street
Enjoy his cute, adorable,
Calming presence. Tiny fingers point up to their find:
Little Teddy
Kicking it, calm and lounging
Next to a hand-drawn
Placard, reminding block residents
What Hunter’s Point, Sunnydale,
Seminary, Eastmont and I
Have always known to be fact:
BLACK LIVES MATTER.
A child’s bed-time companion
Moved on up
To the front of the house.
He’s on constant display
Like a hard-plastic preening
Mannequin in Neiman Marcus’
Store-front window,
There in the window-sill
As a plush symbol
For these strange days,
Where breathing the air
Without a masque on
Around others
Is unhealthy.
Little Teddy
Reassures us
That these days
Don’t have to be scary.
He tells us
Non-verbally
That if we stay safe,
If we keep our connections
Despite the isolation,
Despite the miles,
EVERYTHING WILL BE OK.
________________________
W: Summer Solstice 2020
*ITALIAN: “Little bear”.
For a mere
Three seconds
On camera,
Filmed in austere
Black and white,
You’d given the statement
Which caught me off-guard,
Spoken the words
I never heard
Any celebrity say:
“I stand against hate.”
That oath you’d made
For this little P.S.A.
Had the usual Hollywood
Polish and pretence
Missing from it.
It didn’t smack
Of someone gunning
for an Emmy nomination.
It didn’t smack
Of someone reading
Phrases from a teleprompter
Like a vapid TV news reporter.
It didn’t smack
Of someone auditioning
For some unspecified role.
Although you received far less
Screen-time than
“The A-list” types,
You sounded committed
To use your privilege to aid
A struggle without end
Where I’m the target.
The other big names and faces
Sounded more willing to save
Careers from ruin than showing up
Against organised violence.
Police terror is racial terror–
Given those circumstances,
I’m inclined to believe
A fitness personality
Over Pop singers and movie stars.
The advert you appeared in
Had proven to
Hinder more than help,
More performative than conducive
To a cause centuries-old,
A liberatory cause
Larger than us both–
You’d taken an oath.
So what happens next?
Will you stand
With my people
When White Supremacy
Moves in close
For the kill?
Will you stand
With families
Whose loved ones
Transformed into
Hashtags?
Will you rush
To my side
If acid tongues
Seared my honour,
Insulted my colour?
Would you fight
With the same
Conviction as you did
With fellow gymnasts, army of survivors, backing
A lecherous monster in doctor’s guise into a corner?
I’m not asking
To be saved.
I’m asking if I could count
On your support of
My besieged people.
Since the ancient
Southern slave revolts,
Africans were at the forefront
Resisting genocide,
Resisting criminalisation,
Our status as hated.
But it doesn’t
Hurt to have
A reliable ally
On one’s side.
And that lady
On the Silk
Organic soy milk
Unsweet carton
Might be a good one.
___________________
W: 6.26.2020
[For Aly Raisman.]
I walk tall and carry a bic pen.
I walk hard.
I walk proud.
I walk for them boyz
who can’t breathe no mo.
I WALK LOUD!
I WALK MAD (AS HELL)!!
CAUSE I GOTTA BLACK SON!!!
Dedicated to: Do you gots soft shoes on? Now dats what I’m talkin bout…WALK HARD!
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