by David Michael Jackson
I’ll remember the arrogance of power
I cannot find one reason to kill
a million Vietnamese
and 49,000 of my generation.
I cannot find a reason for that wall in Washington
I cannot find a single domino after all these years.
we argue that chaos will surely come if we leave.
and what is our definition of chaos,
little water and electricity
fear
bombs in the street,
in the market
death squads
smart bombs with collateral damage,
invaders kicking doors
kicking doors.
We must not cut and run.
I’m not,
I’ll stay right here
beside my comfortable
symbolic fire,
no sir
not gonna cut and run,
not me.
My sarcasm overcomes me
I throw myself across the room.
I hit the wall.
I throw ol’ T.S. against the other wall.
He who had his wife arrested in a restaurant,
had her committed,
went to Harvard
never visited.
This is the man we say
set our pace.
We
accepted his wasteland.
Do I dare to eat an apple?
Cast him off
let him drift away
on the ripples of
a new poetry