Tag Archives: slam poetry

Hate – slam poem

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I gotta learn how to upload sound files properly… but I was feeling especially lazy today.

 

 

 

 

 

how to encapsulate
hate

Of all the hates
hate for the self is strongest
because you have no defense
from yourself
denial is all you can use
a powerful tool indeed
but once hate wrests that from you
it can turn your greatest defense
into its sharpest weapon.

Hate stings
it burns
it cuts cuts cuts cuts
it hangs itself
shoots itself
throws itself over boundaries
and even when it falls
it crawls crawls crawls
so you kick it
fight it
try to
destroy it
sometimes you win the fight
sometimes you lose
but the battle never ends
and there are days when hate
appears to be
insurmountable

hate is a monster.
hate has fangs.
hate has many grinding teeth.
quick to eat, slow to digest.
hate is always
hungry
undeniable
hate runs deep
hating you
hating your movements
hating your soul
hating what you are
hating what you aren’t.
it is righteous anger.
it is simpering greed.
it steps on the faces of good people
it spits on the finest intentions
crumples them like old tissues and throws them out.
hate has no regard
no respect
nothing
a consuming fire
a consuming evil
a consuming disease
It eats eats eats

and you
always in the middle
scared you
eyes like marbles
pale, weak
tired
you
are the one who has to fight this thing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Against the Next War

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In response to CafePhilos’s call to make peace viral. A noble effort, and worth a try. Please give his post a read.

Trying to do a slam-style poem. I really hope the audio turned out OK on this. Apologies if it’s too quiet, I’m still figuring out how to make videos.

 

 

 

If I imagine them
Taking my brother away to war

I shatter.

I don’t want to lose anyone.
Especially not to something as stupid
As war.

Maybe you like the idea of war
Because you’ve confused real life with action movies.
Maybe you hate another group of people for what they have done.
I can’t convince you to forgive another’s atrocities
That is something you must grow into on your own.
But I can beg you this:

When dogs of war bark
Don’t feed them.
You will be told it is the honorable thing
To die for your country.
You will be told you have enemies abroad
Monsters in human flesh.
But the monsters are in your back yard
Baying for blood.
Don’t
feed
them.
You will be told
That if you love your family
You will abandon it
And submit yourself to the state.
Give up your mind, body, and soul
To be consumed.
Don’t feed them.
You will be called weak
You will be called subversive
You will be stamped
Kicked
Drowned
Thrown into jail
Dumped in the gutter.
Still,
don’t feed them.
They will scream about the chaos
Unleashed in the world
They will plead for your aid
They will put weeping women before you
They will show you the bodies of children
They will appeal to your humanity.
But if you join them
You become the monster.
You will rape the women
You will bomb the children
You will force them all into the machines.
Don’t feed them.
They offer you money
Insurance for your families
Early retirement.
Ask your wife how she feels
When you go abroad.
She may smile then, proud and supportive,
But when she gets the letter,
Insurance will be a cold comfort
A reminder
That her loved one was eaten alive.
Don’t feed them.
The politicians get fatter.
The generals get fatter.
Our fearless leaders
Have little to lose.
What is noble
About sacrificing yourself for these people?
Are they so wise, so just?
They have enough.
Don’t feed them.