divided

by poorman a. blackstar

Eating is a privilege reserved for the fiercest captives,
willing to relinquish all that they’ve acquired
in competition with family, neighbors and advertising images.
Albino chimps hold all the power,
elected in an absentee landslide mandate.
The ignorant minority has spoken in a broken tongue.
The intellectual elite is cowering in crumbling towers
in corduroy, in khaki, on campus.
The hip hop costumes, the punk uniforms,
the alternative stereotypes, too new to read the news,
too smart to listen to what grandmother has to mumble.
So knowledgeable, the planet won't suffer,
but its population is going off.
Forget the fine print, the cliff notes are too detailed.
No nudity without violence.
No sex without pain.
Caged and played, divided and discouraged,
on the doorsteps of the kindergarten.

[]

2002