The soft bare flesh of your palms
Marred along with the bony knees
That refuse to carry you along this path
Dirt and gravel dig into your skin
As you sit facing the Eastern Gate
Prostrate like a child before your relentless master
On hands and knees too weak for strength
But too strong to kneel
Defiance is your name
As you grit your teeth and grip the gravel
Between your blistered fingers
There is no blame just a silent battle
As you crash to ground
Like the rebounded toss
Of the writer’s crumpled paper
As another idea
Dies and dies again
Breathe in the ochre
Of this ground where you find yourself kneeling
Paint your face with the ochre
Of the very ground you were once told to kneel upon
Let it be your armor, your war paint
In the coming battle
Where once you had hesitation
Shaking as straw in the wind
Let this gravel be your battlefield
And your oppression become strength
We are the children of warriors
But we have yet to prove ourselves
Even as you sit with battered pride
And bleeding palms
This is just your beginning
Let this blood be the signature
That is remembered by all
You who wept for what was right
We remember your name
Posts Tagged ‘defiance’
Grit and Gravel
Saturday, November 26th, 2011Defiance
Thursday, October 15th, 2009“I am done being scared”
She said
Picking herself up defiantly
“I won’t be pushed around anymore
I’m gonna be the toughest girl around”
She balls her tiny fists
And looks me in the eye
I just feel old
Looking the avatar of defiance
Right in the eye
I sigh sadly
At the visage of a girl
Going done a difficult path
“You don’t have to be tough
You just have to be smarter
Than them to win”
I say sitting in a chair
I feel so tired
“No”
She says flexing
And unlacing her fists
That should never know
The feeling of anger or hate
Her faces tightens
As she shakes her head vehemently
“I will show them
I am not just some stupid girl”
She is angry now
But so am I
“Well maybe you are just some stupid girl
What then
What if you can’t change”
I yell at her
“What if you are stuck forever
Just being that dumb girl
With the angry fists
What then
When all they see is a girl with
Hate coiled in her eyes and
A fist for a heart”
She looks at me
With shattered eyes
And the beginning of tears
“I’m sorry”
I say desperately
As I reach for her
To cradle her sadness away
“I didn’t mean-”
She turns and runs away
Leaving me with open arms
As I watch her run
But for a moment
She stops
Turns back to me
With a pinched face
And defiant eyes
“You’re wrong”
She whispers
Those two tiny words
Ring in my ears
Ricochet through my brain
And she is gone
I sit back
Rub my weary eyes
And sigh
“I hope you’re right”