We Must Face History
Facing history
of those defaced
in history.
Those ghettoed
by racial segregation,
wearing badges of dishonor
imposed upon them.
Those composed badges
decomposed in history
by logistics of mass murder.
Employed by those classed;
treated as Masters
in capitalist adventures
by imperialist impetus.
Encamping some as victims
of virulent mass murders,
of horrors unforgettable.
Who can quantify this malady of evil?
Who can measure its extent?
Who can estimate, assess the weight?
Who can stare blindly and deny?
Hyper-intense is the pain
that by fear is perpetuated
and by hatred sustained.
Oh, the madness
and the bitterness.
Oh, the everlasting sadness
to be labeled as “The Other:”
Jews, blacks, colored, “queers,”
Africans, Armenians…
Serbs and “wetbacks” — Native Americans.
“Mischlinge” breeds of poisoned multi stripes.
Multi breeds ignominiously ranked.
All because of various fears;
displaced, defaced, replaced.
Perceived as social miscreants.
The lumpen proletariat class;
Society’s human underclass.
Devoid of any human consciousness.
Oppressed, suppressed, depressed
by systemic human justification
as the scum of the earth.
We must face history
of those defaced in history.
We must must defeat the common enemy.
We must face history
of those defaced in history.
We must defeat the common enemy
that is buried deep within the human soul.
About this poem
Antisemitism, racism, sexism, authoritarianism, anarchism, amoralism and other evil ideological isms are the maladies that historically plague human societies. The source of this pervasive illness lies buried in the human psyche and is a flaw of human nature that urgently begs for healing.
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Written on January 19, 2022
Submitted by karlcfolkes on January 17, 2022
Modified on May 02, 2023
- 1:16 min read
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Quick analysis:
Scheme | aba bcdx xad xeef xeg gxxx xxx fffd hii xxhb xjj fxcx AAa AAax |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,391 |
Words | 256 |
Stanzas | 14 |
Stanza Lengths | 3, 4, 3, 4, 3, 4, 3, 4, 3, 4, 3, 4, 3, 4 |
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"We Must Face History" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2023. Web. 2 Jun 2023. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/117915/we-must-face-history>.
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