henry 7. reneau, jr.- two poems

‘sivilized people

thas’ how they are,

like momma always said: if you shit in your backyard,

you’ll carry your nasty ways next door,

like holy-roller trinity

everywhere Freedomland goes: bibles, bullets & big-head hundreds,

as SUVs guzzle 700,000 dead Muslims per gallon of gas, translating greed

to the global-I-zation language of exploit & dominate,

a generic deception of peace

like blowflies & insects gleaning new niggers to death

with Predator drones &

smart bombs

pinpointing collateral damage as victory: aerodynamic metal fins &

laser sights

conjuring truth in military euphemisms

measured in kilotons & megatons in these trigger-happy times.

thas’ how they are,

disappeared into the anonymity of multiculturalism &

debit card submission to extorted need,

a consumer pseudo-bliss

shackled to the rabid howl of dog-eat-dog &

programmed left-right-left by acronym-ed badges of authority.

they are expendable ciphers who ensure the equilibrium of the State,

livin’ the two-minute clock inna’ micro-waved minute &

zooming ever faster

into isolation & instant gratification

downloaded to Smart-phones & Facebook gated communities,

a mannequin-ism of material obsession,

Verizon cell-drone to

cell-drone

chasin’ success like a quota

inna’ scattered Babel of consumer languages at primetime.

can you hear me now?!!     in these trigger-happy times.

thas’ how they are,

give me your poor, your tired, your huddled masses yearning to be free,

a subliminal brain-wash

in HDTV:

forgotten nigro “refugees” in Katrina’s wake,

the marginalized spree killer,

Glock 9mm & two hours at Virginia Tech—

thirty-two body bags

filled with the emptiness of diversity . . .

the Amerikkkan dream . . .

pleading into the deafened ears of whore-porate e pluribus unum

who fill their bombs with shrapnel

to mark the innocent with their hate

thas’ how they are,

hookers in heat cursing mythical God

in every expletive of confrontation,

preachin’ next door what they don’t practice at home.

they do not believe others have the right to live as they please.

they buy puppet governments at 99¢ store prices,

promising:

we’re friends till the end &

breeding the slavery of sweatshops in free trade zones.    

they convert heathens, preaching come-to-blue-eyed-Jesus-wept &

turn-the-other-cheek,

that makes common sense & rebel courage weak.

they propagandize: you’re with us or against us &

bust a cap in any invented-terrorist ass.

the Great Satan slouching towards Jerusalem,

breeding jihad-determined children

brandishing suicide bombs, slingshot rocks & retribution.

thas’ how they are,

butterfly dreams

cocooned in credit card identities

like overstuffed piggy-banks

crammed dangerously full:

‘sivilized people,

teached/preached/beaten in-security,

who will only heed blazing guns in angry hands,

in these trigger-happy times.

. . . smashing windows & throwing
rocks & bricks at police, who responded
by firing tear gas.
—Berkeley, CA-Dec. 7, 2011

1.
authority
like the pot
calling the kettle
black
labeling the oppressed:
law-breaking violent
thugs
because
they refuse to protest
non-
violently
against the violent
repressive actions
of those who are sworn to
protect & serve.

2.
their radical
optimism
of jagged scars
the stitching &
sutures that
enmesh their hearts.

3.
(one acts shrewdly
when one
bides one’s time)
any time
those with guns
confront those
without guns.


Note: italicized quote by Adolf Hitler (1941)

henry 7. reneau, jr. writes words in fire to wake the world ablaze: free verse illuminated by courage that empathizes with all the awful moments, launching a freight train warning that blazes from the heart, like a chambered bullet exploding inadvertently. His poetry collection, freedomland blues (Transcendent Zero Press, 2014), was released in September of 2014. He also has an e-chapbook, entitled physiography of the fittest (Kind of a Hurricane Press, 2014), which was released in December of 2014.