1.
First it was, like a bat
out of hell, “I can’t breathe!”
and tens, then hundreds
then hundreds of thousands
died because they couldn’t.
Then it was a knee on
a neck and “I can’t breathe!”
gasped George Floyd,
who was murdered precisely
because he couldn’t.
Now it’s the young the wide
world over, it’s the young
who are changing the world.
Out of the way, old fogies,
with your racy hates, your
boring slots, your I dunnos
and don’t care whats. Outta
the way ‘cause the young
are coming through to get rid
of the cops as we know them,
as traitors of the working-class,
racists for the ruling class and
its thug President, who gassed
and gunned peacefully protesting
American citizens, who won’t
be content until he’s in jail with
his lawless and disorder gang.
2.
Yes, for George Floyd’s
6 year-old daughter Gianna;
Yes, for the young going to
see to it that the 38 billion
dollars given to Israel for
American cops to be trained
by Israeli police to put the
knee on the likes of Floyd
as they do on Palestinian
necks is finished
from this moment on,
and the 728 military bases
in every country on earth,
our American imperialism,
begins to shut down,
surrender. Our khaki
is kaka.
3.
The future’s full of
beautiful young women
and young men, all of
them very aware
of what’s really
going on in life. Nothing’s
going to stop them from
realizing their dream of a
world of loving kindness.
They’re not afraid and they
welcome you, who might be,
into their fearlessness.
They have much to teach
about what you already
know and have swept
under your rugs and now
are being swept out into
the air of your second
youth, so altogether
we’re going to create
a kind of society that’s
ruled by kindness at the
heart of love, knowing
that it can be done
and will be done,
by the young and the old
together, at last.
— Jack Hirschman
American poet and social activist.
Poet Laureate, San Francisco, 2006
THE YOUNG ARCANE
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This poem is filled with really great imagery and a powerful message. Get behind and longside the youth who are the leaders.