Listen to this poem using the player above.
This is poem #22 for the November Poem-A-Day challenge. Today’s prompt was to write a poem that takes a stand. As is often the case, this poem takes a stand … and a left turn into weird territory.
Protest
I am holding a sign, it says:
DON’T KISS HIM!
in block letters.
I wrote it last night, overcome
by righteous indignation.
I stand before you,
brothers and sisters,
as a man without a country.
A wanderer in the pale lands.
I have an expired passport —
the picture is an x-ray of my chest
with an arrow pointing to the middle
and the words “You Are Here”
in friendly red letters.
I will chain myself
to the gate of her house
while the bulldozers approach,
bent on my removal.
Brothers and sisters,
I will not waver in this struggle,
though history and time and
a thousand sharp words
cut me to the quick.
I have a dream that is becoming a nightmare.
This sign and these words are my gift to all of you.
Remember me.