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Kalamu ya Salaam's information blog

 

photo by Alex Lear

photo by Alex Lear

 

 

I LIVE IN THE MOUTH

OF HISTORY

 

i live in the mouth of history

but wish that civilization would spit me out

modernity’s split tongue lies, progress’ white teeth bite

& the ancient seed of my blackness is never swallowed

though my weary bones are cracked and tender marrow sucked

 

i live in the belly of genocide

the acid of injustice daily eating away at my gentleness

separating me into useful proteins, vitamins & invaluable

human fibers which nourish the blood of a body which rejects

the bulk of my being & shits me out of the ass of a demented society 

which self righteously accuses me of smelling up the place

 

i live for the day when i can wake up

without voices of morality telling me to hate being who i am

without images of consumption suggesting the brightest life is white

without broadcasts of commercialism prostituting my womanself

without sirens of authority seeking to incarcerate black male genitalia

without bullets of unfriendly fire lacerating the social air

 

i live for the day when i can wake up

& see morning smiles blackening my mirror

& caress the intimate nudity of all whom i love

& inhale a bouquet of communal unity aromas

& hear a liturgy of love & respect chanted every hour

& taste tomorrow in all its bittersweet complexity

 

i live for that day & love the night

even as a prisoner in the skin of humanity

whether as ancestor, advocate or spirit unborn

i was, am and will continue to be 

a dangerous rock in the mouth of this century’s history

 

—kalamu ya salaam