Weird Sisters by Erik Jensen This is a gleam of sunlight in the night for you. The cops took them away, all 83, like a whirlwind off the Michigan farms. And where were you? Here or there? Where are you now? What does it matter? You are here now and have a choice. They took them. Are you the kind of boy that stands up to injustice? Or the kind of man that fights righteousness? Was this righteous? It was a party, we think, that those men in suits broke in and there was whisky...no, rum...no, beer and those in there were black, like you. Are you black? Or... were you some kind of coward? What does that matter if you were... right now, you could be...no, you are...a hero to be. Yes, you. Tonight, in the blighted heat. Or not – tomorrow and tomorrow, they could be cold. Fair or foul. But tonight, you could impact those tomorrows. Who was it that did this? Did they always come in the night or maybe, sometimes day? They weren't black. They meant well, so far as, you might think with their books and pretty words and promises and...white hoods. They were the same ones that took them away, right? You could be a hero. What would it take? A stand. But where? Here? Or there? Or maybe, yes, right here. You can fight them – the same way, like a whirlwind. Here, in the street, nameless. What would it take? A window, a gateway. Yes, come through their windows, like they did your doors. They took 83 from that party or game, arrested them for what? Does it matter? You could be that one to stand up. But how? There's a can, full of their trash – do they think any better of you than trash, items to be thrown away and left in the rain or sleet or snow? You could be a hero – beyond those before you. The choice is yours. It would be such a waste. You could be a hero. No man could stop you til the masses still. Foul or fair. 08/29/2011 Author's Note: In July 1967, a party was broken up around 1 a.m. in the morning in a Detroit neighborhood. Over the next few days, some of the greatest riots of the twentieth century occurred. There's still something of a question of what actual things created the atmosphere for the riots to begin in the first place. This is something of an exploration of how identity, youth, pride and confusion intersect. Posted on 08/29/2011 Copyright © 2024 Erik Jensen Return to the Previous Page   pathetic.org Version 7.3.2 May 2004 Terms and Conditions of Use 0 member(s) and 2 visitor(s) online All works Copyright © 2024 their respective authors. Page Generated In 0 Second(s)