Be Very Afraid of Old White Men

Be very afraid of old white men,

they've achieved much on the bones of others.

They know the hows and when,

to make widows of wives, and nestless mothers.

Be very afraid of old white men,

they've bought the land with money they stole,

careless again and again,

stealing gold, diamond, and coal.

Be very afraid of old white men,

with chains that still make slaves:

shackled the skin of colour, and then,

dance upon their graves.

-o0o-

Chivalry

"for women" is the reason men fought their wars?

            like jackets on mud puddles and opening doors

              men laid us out like carcasses on floors

gutted us and killed us

                     and pretended that they were the victims

          because our deaths weren't as honourable

men did none of this "for women"           

we, the un-man, were the acted upon                  

the field that was tilled                                               

the price that was billed                                         

the hysteria pilled                    

the drink swilled

we were never people                                                     

we were your objects                                                          

your things                                                                                 

                                    the good women cloistered and brided off

                  the bad women, queers, people of colour

fucked, raped, abandoned, and killed   

"for us"?

No...

                                                         you did "for us" what bankers do for money

                          "for us" what robbers do for gold

                      "for us" what the colonist did for land

"for us" what the christian did for souls

this was never about us                                      

and of course              

  of course

            of course

you say that you did it "for us"                                        

we should be grateful                                          

at least someone was thinking about us   

how nice...                                 

                             gobble us up all sugar and spice

                     because we'd be wise to play along

                in a game where we're the ball to be kicked around

men faught wars "for us"?                                                  

go fuck yourself

                                      don't put your blood on my hand

                        use my body as a crutch so you can stand

like the slaver who did it all for the slave's own good                          

                                                      (and of course the land)

         it's the one great thing that I wish you'd understand

the one thing i wish you'd get into your head                                       

damned right, I wish that chivalry was dead                       

-o0o-

Is my tea stolen?

is there a term for white taste?

like white gaze

but an appreciation for the taste of dark skin

my tea might be stolen, you see

the product of slavery

a colonial tell

a capitalist sell

and the taste that white people develop

for all things not white

except for brown lives, of course

they don't seem to matter when it comes to white consumption
the deadly, unjust appropriation of everything of colour
except the lives that made them

understand that my tea comes at a price

far grander than the corporate sale

a tale of trade

a rand for pound of tea

-o0o-

This Land is Your Land

this land is your land?
it's weird you say that
you came with loud guns
you came with bright flags

you colonized them
and then you claimed that
this land was always made for you

you built your houses
on native gravestones
and on their temples
you build payphones

pretend their gone now
that you are destined
that this land was always made for you

went from Apartheid
to segregation
you painted this
your rainbow nation

and now you stand there
with all you stole, saying
this land was always made for you

your hateful heroes
put up in marble
your white guilt
a whispered garble

and now you pretend
it's not related
this land was always made for you

your racist systems
you now defend them
with guns and flags
you swore were not yours

and now you yell
from every plaza
this land was always made for you

and you've got houses
blood money pay checks
built on the sweat of
black broken bare backs

and you're just descended
you never did that
this land was always made for you

-o0o-