Clean Activism (poem)
We’re not dirty enough.
We’re clothed in the latest trends
posh lingo
We laugh in perfect chorus to human ridicule
and drink multimedia
while becoming numb to its arsenic
We’re not dirty enough.
Our silk wrapped nails are perfectly manicured
Our homes display our room to room arrogance
Our brains feast on the causes of the hour
So that we can two-step
in gala glamour cinderella political circles.
if the wrinkles can be
dry cleaned in an hour or less.
We are not dirty enough.
We’re clean.
or hurts of the past.
that are saturated with drunkardness
and morning after pills
We are colorfully stained glass.
all through in us
all through out us
the genie we beckon
to bestow all manners of healings
and husbands
and wealth
to our pristine hands
and leather soles that trample
living breathing ones.
There is no room for skeletons here.
The troubles of this world
are imagery that we pack neatly into poems
beckoning applause
and validation.
in the midst of standing ovations.
1st Sunday communions.
Because activism is dirty
unless it’s just a word.
Sharing our stories is dirty
unless it’s gossip we ain’t heard.
So,
Wash us, make us clean, lord.
get the dirt up off of us.
Wash us, make us clean, lord.
get the dirt up off of us.
Wash us, make us clean, lord.
and deliver us from the business
of salvation.
when the world is watching.
12
AMAZING WOMEN SPEAK!
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