I seek now not to dispel the American dream of our forefathers,
but to both: decry those factions whose practices and pronouncements
so richly deserve denunciation;
and to implore the pursuit of yet greater aspirations.
To expound upon the dissemination of hatred,
and the deleterious effects of these deeds.
For the examination of a nation’s history
is a necessary exercise in spiritual bloodletting
which facilitates a cure.
While our forefathers heralded both life and liberty:
they slaughtered those who first greeted them;
derived the dichotomous depictions of white and black;
and boasted the biblical bonafides of bonded servitude.
Devine Sanctioned Dehumanization.
Made mules of men to till the soil,
and filled coffers with the fruits of that toil.
And the roots of the greatest strife
in this fragile union
was the question
of the facility of state sanctioned servitude,
which pressed patriarch and progeny
to take up arms against each other
to settle the argument.
And even after the massacre of millions
the vanquished
desperate to claim de facto victory,
made manifest the marginalization
of their former chattel.
Codified their criminalization.
Made Draconian incarceration.
Resurrected servitude.
Eager to justify their inhumanity,
deceptively defined essential blackness:
Lasciviousness.
A Propensity for Larceny.
Inherent Criminality.
This cruel categorization of color.
Made caricatures of a continent.
Mythical monstrous mystique.
Mastered media manipulation
to manifest the message.
And it is neither enlightenment nor altruism
which hath made he who was once counted 3/5 a man, whole,
but the Murder of Medgar, Malcolm and Martin
made manifest that martyrdom
which prayed us hoist their burdens,
and take up their cross.
Defying Death’s dominion,
denying Death’s vain sting.
And pursued that semblance of equality
reserved for those who would risk death to attain it.
Yet now we see the zealously xenophobic,
Forsake the angels of their most scrupulous selves,
in favour of those lesser spirits.
We do not doubt that many aspire to make America great again.
But recognize that the America of which they speak,
owes its prosperity to the marginalization,
and opportunistic exploitation of those with darker hues.
It is a dream that panders to the basest fear,
the disseminating a dystopian nightmare.
For the history of this planet is replete
with nations, who having been romanced by tyrants,
Subsequently discard that favour.
And in an effort to alleviate the constituent guilt,
aspire to annihilate the evidence of their shame.
Indignant of the internal iniquities
which constitute complicity.
For the few that have been foisted by the bullet;
many more have been hoisted by the ballot.
And one cannot escape the conclusion
that the demonstrable depravity of such a man,
invariably reflects the erosion
of the people and the place that produce him.
NOTE
Both the title, and the inspiration for this poem, were inspired by comments Mr. Hayes made regarding my poem, Unmasked .
I encourage all to parse the site for his excellent elucidating work.
but to both: decry those factions whose practices and pronouncements
so richly deserve denunciation;
and to implore the pursuit of yet greater aspirations.
To expound upon the dissemination of hatred,
and the deleterious effects of these deeds.
For the examination of a nation’s history
is a necessary exercise in spiritual bloodletting
which facilitates a cure.
While our forefathers heralded both life and liberty:
they slaughtered those who first greeted them;
derived the dichotomous depictions of white and black;
and boasted the biblical bonafides of bonded servitude.
Devine Sanctioned Dehumanization.
Made mules of men to till the soil,
and filled coffers with the fruits of that toil.
And the roots of the greatest strife
in this fragile union
was the question
of the facility of state sanctioned servitude,
which pressed patriarch and progeny
to take up arms against each other
to settle the argument.
And even after the massacre of millions
the vanquished
desperate to claim de facto victory,
made manifest the marginalization
of their former chattel.
Codified their criminalization.
Made Draconian incarceration.
Resurrected servitude.
Eager to justify their inhumanity,
deceptively defined essential blackness:
Lasciviousness.
A Propensity for Larceny.
Inherent Criminality.
This cruel categorization of color.
Made caricatures of a continent.
Mythical monstrous mystique.
Mastered media manipulation
to manifest the message.
And it is neither enlightenment nor altruism
which hath made he who was once counted 3/5 a man, whole,
but the Murder of Medgar, Malcolm and Martin
made manifest that martyrdom
which prayed us hoist their burdens,
and take up their cross.
Defying Death’s dominion,
denying Death’s vain sting.
And pursued that semblance of equality
reserved for those who would risk death to attain it.
Yet now we see the zealously xenophobic,
Forsake the angels of their most scrupulous selves,
in favour of those lesser spirits.
We do not doubt that many aspire to make America great again.
But recognize that the America of which they speak,
owes its prosperity to the marginalization,
and opportunistic exploitation of those with darker hues.
It is a dream that panders to the basest fear,
the disseminating a dystopian nightmare.
For the history of this planet is replete
with nations, who having been romanced by tyrants,
Subsequently discard that favour.
And in an effort to alleviate the constituent guilt,
aspire to annihilate the evidence of their shame.
Indignant of the internal iniquities
which constitute complicity.
For the few that have been foisted by the bullet;
many more have been hoisted by the ballot.
And one cannot escape the conclusion
that the demonstrable depravity of such a man,
invariably reflects the erosion
of the people and the place that produce him.
NOTE
Both the title, and the inspiration for this poem, were inspired by comments Mr. Hayes made regarding my poem, Unmasked .
I encourage all to parse the site for his excellent elucidating work.
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