Thought I would share the spoken word piece I wrote for MOONLIGHTVSN’S RISE UP! show last Saturday night tonight for World Poetry Day. Peace
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With my privilege showing
In this penis-wielding body
That all of my male entitlements show
With my privilege showing
With all my entitlements, and knowing
That this is the only “me” I know how to be
But this “me” asks that you lend him an ear
And know that and see that I’m here
Dear mother I’m here on my feet
Because somewhere along the way
Or maybe just the other day
You told me what you knew
All about what it’s like to be you
To things i could or would never realize
Not in this skin or with these bones
Because my privilege is showing
But there you were, sowing
The seeds of enlightenment
Of the song you’ve been singing
Of a day when you would see peace
And together we can reminisce
About all the struggles that got us here
That this son of yours was an ally, most sincere,
and when we get there I want can say
Dear sister or should I say
The biggest resister I know
Fearless persister and relentless insister
And you wouldn’t sit just by
With your girls at your side,
And all those who would not abide
But biggest of all your successes
Was when you taught me to say
That I could be something
That I didn’t think was meant for me
That I could be antipatriarchal too
Even with my privilege showing
And my entitlements growing
That this brother of yours was your ally in the struggle
And together we faced trouble
So that with all of my mind
Dear lover of my present, past, and future
Perhaps to no one else is my privilege more apparent
And my entitlements more transparent
Than to you with whom behind closed doors
I can share more of the things we can delight in
And we may deliberately brighten
The shadows of all the things that hurt us
And have rendered us cold and callous
It is to you I want to make a solemn promise
But not one to be faithful to you for all time
Not that in sickness and in health, together we’ll make the climb
Not to share with your every dime
No, this is a promise to never cross that line
Where my skin meets your skin
To bring myself to a halt
Before resorting to assault
Because though life may never be sublime
Among the work, the murk, the quirks,
the perks, the jerks, and the overtime
I will try to get for us together
What we want, what we need, what we deserve
And I know that there come a time when
That will no longer be me for you
But still I will be proud to have been your ally for a time
That we were good during the bad and better in our prime
Dear stranger I need to come clean
this feminism stuff is not always obvious to me
All words i can get behind
But I don’t know always know where they come from
So forgive me for what happened this morning
you were just trying to get on the crowded train,
and there would have been space
if only I had taken off my bag,
but instead I just looked you in the eye with my big space-taking-up bag
on my space-unaware body,
and you couldn’t get on the train
And you had to get off and wait
And I probably made you late.
But I swear I’m a nice guy
If only you’d give me a try
I’m not always so disagreeable on trains,
But I know that I still benefit in numerous ways
from a history that for centuries has treated maleness as the default
And as we walk together on this asphalt
I didn’t always know my privilege was showing
And my entitlements were slowing
But I swear that i’m trying
And your stranger ally be
And though you don’t know my name
And I don’t know from where you came
I could still say I was there for you
I stand before you right now
With my entitlements showing
And you probably think that at this point
My privilege is overflowing
I tried very hard to stop talking about me
And start talking about you for a minute
Because the truth is I’m still learning
Taking it all in and sojourning
Through all the riff raff of life
Through the noise and the strife
To rally those like me nigh
To give meaning and action
To the words of the causes
Like RISE UP and make no pauses
Together we link arms, hearts, minds, and eyes
Systems of opression and narrow-minded regression
andulkaphoto
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