Saturday, June 13, 2020

Willful Ignorance (for James Baldwin)

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  GEORGE FLOYD SERIES



Willful Ignorance

The words of a great man
From a former generation
Haunt the white man’s world
With the weight of eternal history
And the depth of eternal knowledge

“If you can overcome the curtain of my color”
Then we can live in peace
If not we will be at war perpetually
A war like most wars that no one can win

“I want exactly what you want”
I want to be left alone
I want to walk the streets of America
Without fear of never returning
To my home
I want my children and theirs
To grow up in safe neighborhoods
Where kindness and wisdom thrive
Where hatred and brutality fail

“You will listen or you will perish”
And we will perish together
Like pigs in a pen
Like fools in a pool of madness
We are human beings
We are not bison or beavers
That you can hunt into extinction
We are not leaving
This is our land as much as yours
You brought us here as slaves
But we are free
We have won our freedom
And we will not yield equality
We are here to stay
Make peace with that reality

(respectfully for James Baldwin)

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