(November, 2018)
I, me, my, mine
is my predicament
honest, stripped
this is who I am
I can’t help it
I am such programmed
thus
disrespected, discounted
bounced around
used for granted
I refuse to realize
the advantage of many
over a few
ever a person
never a nation
then I complain
Oof! So many; more so now than ever. (Congratulations to Arif! He has a new collection out titled, “A Piece of Me.” You can get your copy on Amazon.) – mh clay
once there was this Mr. Man
yes you are, and I am
demigods losing the plot
chuckle before you read this
done in by a tiny covid
19
who let you in
besides oceans and walls
alien pathogen
this country is for our citizens
you just ain’t welcome
Mr. Man, says the virus
you’re your worst nemesis
for a small me
do you even see
the tall lessons
to make you realize
I may be
the next best thing to happen
top economies now on their knees
if panic and fear were solutions
this by now would be behind us
these unusual times urge our kind
pull together, think others
revise our priorities and relevance
Riffing relevance from rants and raves. Are you listening, Mr. Man? (Thanks for Dr. Ahmad’s note from the COVID frontlines.)- mh clay
I keep trying harder and harder
adding one wrong to another
piling mine over theirs
hoping that
come a day they might
add up to become a right
Can’t up the game with downs. – mh clay
In celebration of our differences
Craving for more respect, more relevance
All before self
Deep-rooted yet visible
In him, her and all
Knocking, piercing, screaming
This urge, the roar, the calling
A conviction to carve a Nation
Our will is to become a People
While we’re making resolutions, here are some ingredients to add to our mix. – mh clay
Another mass shooting tragedy in America. We are all too emotional right now; this is just not the time to talk gun control, is what we are told.
In a week or so when the pain lessens for most of us, so does the passion for change; so why talk gun control then?
Weeks later, the last incident forgotten, wiped off our memories, greed in full control; gun control, what gun control?
So my dear fellow Americans as you see there is no good time to be talking gun control.
They also cite the constitution which clearly states, “the right of the people to keep and bear semi-automatic-turned-automatic Arms with high-capacity magazines, shall not be infringed.”
For me, this remains an example of American Men messing up this issue beyond recognition. Even though the rest of the modern world has found their way around this problem exactly with gun control laws; that is not our issue, we are repeatedly told.
Maybe, just maybe, the gathering American Woman power can jump in to wade us all out of this mess.
Or and the speed with which the communities and people affected by mass shootings are increasing this may well turn into another “Me Too” movement.
So wait patiently America for all the powerful who can but are refusing to protect us from this scourge; wait patiently for enough of them and theirs to become part of this “Me Too” and that is precisely when we would have our gun control laws.
It is only a matter of time and statistics. For now, continue waiting America.
Maybe, just maybe… – mh clay
Come with me on a mental exercise.
Give me the best way of bringing down a nation?
Take America for example.
How can America be defeated?
Not by force against the World’s best military.
Not monetarily upon the World’s largest economy.
No, it cannot be politically isolated.
Still, there is a way, a very smart one at that.
Polarize and divide them Americans.
Have them hate each other, choke them, create doubt.
Pitch people against people, let America defeat itself.
Do from within which cannot be done from without.
An outsider’s insight from the inside. So, when we monkeys see, what do we monkeys do? – mh clay
This game we were playing making faces at each other
Except I was the only one to end up on the altar
Turns out that with my name I should not have been playing this game
And also that I was a shade too dark
I tug on my freedoms before I write
Please God, please
In another life let me be blond, blue-eyed and white
There it is! What color is privileged where you are? – mh clay
News of gloom
That of the impending doom
Negative news and then some
That lump in the throat
Reporting on the ugly, broadcasting the terrible
Over and over
A disproportionately pessimistic view of this world
Dampening of the good, exaggerating the bad
Keeping us on the hook and edge
Calling, one disaster after another
Ignoring most of which is better
And our misery addicted minds
(Misery often that of the others)
Keep buying into this sick sensationalism
A frustrating experience it is
Most of what we get as News
Whatever sells and is good for business
I guess
No guess work! Satisfaction guaranteed! Buy more, be happy; rinse and repeat! – mh clay
This is our circus, our monkeys.
The question begs us how to best respond to all this.
Blame everyone else to the hilt for our ills.
Stay in our shell, shocked, shy, never to step out, never to mix.
Keep our eyes closed and pretend all is kosher.
Or wait for some other divine miracle.
Where each one of us is a brand ambassador, I believe for a Muslim today just showing up is not enough.
This is the time to step it up without apologies or excuses.
With smiling eyes and heads held high, at work or play, crawl if we have to go that extra mile.
To reach out, help out, love, impress.
Create some magic, make some good news, lay ourselves out to excel and embrace.
Step out from behind those walls.
Leave our surrounds a better place.
What “we” make “them” do to live with “us” makes “them” the better. – mh clay
Wash away the washed up Aylan from our conscience
Pretend that it never happened
And somehow undo this stirred up hornet’s nest
Anything that helps prevent bursting our bubble
If this is the Arab Spring
It has to get better than this
Or some other galaxy’s Armageddon
For ours would need to wait its turn
Dog eat dog
Never on this planet, not on our watch
Shall we gather our pieces and do it better all over again
For all of those Aylans who are not going to have a picture taken
Long after the news cycles go cold, lives go dead while we go on. Remember… – mh clay
