Speak
before the dust settles upon their graves,
golden stupor, come sweep away;
we are guilty of being inconsistent in indignation and outrage—
in what words do they justify killing?
Is this what they call enforcing discipline?
I have seen it happen over and over again,
what kind of plausible justification are they seeking?
Don’t read this,
it’s possible you might get caught up in poetic machinery;
there is an insurmountable amount of gall involved that begs
for illustration.
And now the moon with dark slice of weariness propels,
dunes of towering monologues
in favour
of hopes and dreams extend— there is no medicine against death.
Photo credits: Pinterest
A Skylover Wordlist: Machinery, golden, speak, illustrated, dust, medicine 💝
Posted for Weekly Scribblings @ Poets and Storytellers United
& Posted on Open Link Night @ dVerse Poets Pub
48 Responses
Brilliantly eloquent, Sana, and justifiably impassioned, a powerful voice raised for truth and justice.
Thank you so much, Rosemary 😀 so glad you liked it 💄❤️
There is something quite repugnant for a country to accept a police force that is cruel and unjust. But what is worse is a country that part of population cannot accept the colour of many of their citizens skin.
Thank you so much, Robin 🙂 so glad the poem resonated with you 💄❤️
Well said, Sanaa: ‘Is this what they call enforcing discipline?’ I like the shift to the direct address:
‘Don’t read this,
it’s possible you might get caught up in poetic machinery’
and love the final poetic lines with the moon and the ‘dunes of towering monologues’.
Thank you so much, Kim 😀 so glad you enjoyed it 💄❤️
There is such an obvious inconsistency in the policing is done in my country. I think some are seeing beginning to open their eyes to it (about damn time) but I don’t know what is going to happen with Coppertone Caligula doing his best to fan the flames.
These are difficult not to mention terrifying times, Rommy. We can only hope and pray that things become better 💄❤️
Poetic machinery sounds soothing for everything that matters in the midst of outrage. Take care.
Thank you so much, Hazel 🙂 so glad you liked it 💄❤️
Yep, no matter how hard I tried to resist … I got caught up in your (wonderful) poetic machinery.
Thank you so much, Helen 😀 so glad you enjoyed it 💄❤️
Poignant questions raised Sanaa.
much❧✿❧love
Thank you so much, Gillena 🙂 so good to see you 💄❤️
Much love …
We must “speak” (and do), indeed… if the status quo is ever to evolve into something everyone can survive (equally).
Absolutely! Thank you so much, Magaly 🙂 so glad the poem resonated with you 💄❤️
A “dark slice of weariness” indeed. Beautifully written as always, Sanaa.
Thank you so much, Jenna 😀 so glad you liked it 💄❤️
Such painful truth. We MUST weed out thug policemen who abuse their authority at the expense of others. Likewise we must identify and punish those who use unrest as an opportunity to loot and destroy the property of their own communities. The vast majority of American citizens are better than this small and ugly lot.
Absolutely! Thank you so much, Beverly 🙂 so glad the poem resonated with you 💄❤️
Love this! Beautiful in your face writing. I so admire the strength of your voice in this!
Thank you so much, Susie 😀 so glad you enjoyed it 💄❤️
Sanaa, the first time I read this I didn’t know how to take it. I’m back again. In between I was thinking of our daughter and her job as a part of internal auditing in an oil company giant. I believe our police departments and prison facilities would do much better if they had fairly well standardized internal auditing.
Do you watch Inspector Barnaby on the BBC? This weeks episodes were about a prison psychology experiment getting out of hand and the effects of that experiment afterward out of prison.
..
Thank you so much, Jim 🙂 so glad the poem resonated with you 💄❤️
I’m certainly in agreement with other positive comments, and especially so (as Kim cited) with the “enforcing discipline line”. Nice work, Sanaa.
Thank you so much, Ron 😀 so glad you liked it 💄❤️
Kudos for writing to two prompts. Powerful sentiments and views. As poets, we are obligated to speak out when injustice overwhelms us. I believe there is a medicine that push\es back on death; its ingredients are truth, compassion, equity, empathy and equality .
Thank you so much, Glenn 😀 so glad the poem resonated with you 💄❤️
Good observation at the end: “there is no medicine against death”
Thank you so much, Frank 🙂 so good to see you 💄❤️
Lovely use of language, the repetition/internal rhyme of the short i and the multi-syllabic words both stretching and focusing attention. Very effective.
Thank you so much, Alexandra 😀 so glad you enjoyed it 💄❤️
a very moving tribute … the last line says so much!
When will it stop …
Thank you so much, Kate 😀 so glad you liked it 💄❤️
“dunes of towering monologues”……brilliant writing Sanaa!
Jim
Thank you so much, Jim 😀 so good to see you 💄❤️
Speak up… I admire the words. And I pray that meaning actions can result after all indignation and outrage.
Absolutely! 🙂 Let us join our hands in prayer for change to come. Thanks for stopping by, Grace 💄❤️
One of your best yet, Sanaa.
❤️❤️❤️❤️
This is a great line!
And now the moon with dark slice of weariness propels,
dunes of towering monologues
Thank you so much, Dwight 😀 so glad you liked it 💄❤️
We repeat ourselves, always forgetful of what the results will be.
Yes, unfortunately. Thanks for stopping by, Kerfe 💄❤️
“Speak”…”there is no medicine against death.”
Your open and closing lines are poetry on it own and the words in between sear. I feel this so much.
Thank you so much, Raivenne 🙂 so glad you enjoyed it 💄❤️
I find it so strange that obedience has been something that is worth killing for…
Thank you so much, Bjorn 🙂 so glad the poem resonated with you 💄❤️