What the pigs did — a poem

i will always remember what the pigs did
when King spoke out on Vietnam
when Assata fought for freedom
when Razan tried to save lives
when Malcolm’s voice shook the room
when Peltier led liberation
when Ilhan supported the Boycott

i will always remember what
the pigs did
when journalists wrote “free Palestine”
and israels war crimes
and what they were accused of
“anti-Semitism” — “racism”
the white man, the wealthy pig
accusing them of an oppression
that does not exist

for a settler-state that
should not exist

i will always remember, too
the sacrifices
the sacrifice one must make
in order for a change to come
i will keep in mind
that Palestine —
those platitudes
are much larger than my own self
praxis at the ink of a pen
or the intifada —
resistance with a gun

we can only remember
that the pigs
stupidly looked into

my eyes,

their eyes,

our eyes,

and saw something that frightened them.