the dream perverted

I fear Dr. Martin Luther King was turning in his grave during a meeting in Brunswick County, VA a few weeks ago. Blacks and Whites united, but not in harmony... in discord against Latino teenagers.

We looked at Virginia,

Saw southern Hospitality,

Saw Christian conservatism at its finest,

A place where knowledge hadn't puffed up, 

Where claims of charity edified,

Thought surely this is the place!

But a Black woman's fangs ripped savagely

At an open board meeting,

And the mission receded cowardly

While the mob chanted,

"Send those dirty babies home"

And I, stunned, looked at all the hatred;

How the Negroes had elevated themselves

By inserting a new Pariah

Below their long held bottom place

On America's totem pole

In narcissistic fashion,

And White mongers painted as Christians

Slinging spit from their toothless ignorance,

Sang along

In true dirty south diction

In high definition footage reminiscent

Of Alabama and desegregation protests.

Red children seeking desperately 

Through indoor chain linked fences;

Managed surviving surf board freight trains

From their cactus diet rotting guts,

Mistaking the America for pearly gates...

No child, go back home.

Reviews

[paul sal.....]

prejudice is a circle, won't be long before whites are looked upon with disdain, demographics are changing, it is time to straighten out the lines and live in peace.....

[Beccy]

A sad, but all too true indictment of not just the American dream, but of how bigoted this world still is.

Live and let live in harmony, will never I fear, become top of the agenda.

Beccy.

[Sami Khalil]

I love this poem with its long due message. Sad, touching and truthful. An epic write...:)......

[Rita L. Sev]

Wow. This is one of the saddest things I have ever read, Xavier... an important poem that everyone should read, and think about...

[Alfred Kukitz]

Whoa! What a statement on EQUAL RIGHTS. Here we have the god-king of sad, sad poetry.

[Lyn Anderson]

This made me pause, and shiver, and brought a tear to my eye all at once. How things change, how they remain the same. Wonderful write here, just wonderful.

[Gypsy Warrior Queen]

Onions...layers and layers of distortion. You see things so clearly. I always want to hand people my glasses:)

[Brittany Zedalis]

╰☆╮This was heartbreaking to read but hopefully eye-opening for some.╰☆╮

[Frieda P]

A painful read...not much to be said for progress here, yes Dr. King would be justly appalled.