Poems of Resistance, Power & Resilience – Lucinda Marshall

As the incoming administration builds its agenda of attack on marginalized people, on freedom of speech, on the earth itself, poetry will continue to be an essential voice of resistance. Poets will speak out in solidarity, united against hatred, systemic oppression, and violence and for justice, beauty, and community.

                

In this spirit, Split This Rock is offering its blog as a Virtual Open Mic. For the rest of this frightening month, January of 2017, we invite you to send us poems of resistance, power, and resilience.

We will post every poem we receive unless it is offensive (containing language that is derogatory toward marginalized groups, that belittles, uses hurtful stereotypes, explicitly condones or implies a call for violence, etc.). After the Virtual Open Mic closes, we hope to print out and mail all of the poems to the White House.

For guidelines on how to submit poems for this call, visit the Call for Poems of Resistance, Power & Resilience blog post. 

***

Patriotism Reconsidered

By Lucinda Marshall

My anthem is the serenade of birds,

sung without regard for map lines

delineating human assumption of dominion

over that which cannot be possessed,

and I will not pledge allegiance to,

or defend a flag of illusory freedom.

As the sun greets each day,

I will bravely stand up--against

racism, gendered hate, and xenophobia.

I will join in solidarity

with those who block pipelines

and protest gun violence,

those who feed the hungry

and work to stop the school

to prison pipeline,

and with every person who works

for the common good.

Solemnly I swear not to tolerate

the revision of history to fit

a fraudulent justification for

perpetual war or

wanton destruction of Earth.

This is my oath of citizenship,

because to do anything else is treason.

Originally published as part of Indolent Books Transition Poem Series.