I shall not be moved
Faith is my constant
Since it seems Lady Liberty is on hiatus
Jay Z's 99 problems have become evident
45 is President
Justice, where art thou?
Are you merely an illusion?
So much injustice laced with confusion
I wish I could blow it all away
Smokey shades of gray from smoking guns
Blatant target practice on our fathers and Suns
No longer allowed to shine in these treacherous times
I shall not be moved as I become the matriarch of family
No longer the first grandchild running wild in green fields
I call on the ancestors to help us heal
Too many storms beneath our skin
When will love win?
Be for real! How else can we cope when 45 is a global joke?
Does Dorothy deserve applause for visiting Oz?
The rabbit whole is reality and justice does not prevail
Brown islands like Puerto Rico disrespected
Yet Alice resided in Wonderland
Over-stand me if you can
These are hectic times with hate crimes
Premeditated havoc in Vegas and all the crowd scatters
Justice desperately needed, All life Matters!
We were taught to love on Sunday
Yet kill on Monday
After the media broadcasts lies
Although the messages to our youth are tragic
I can't stop loving our beautiful black magic
Keep taking selfies, keep on slaying
Love is the answer
Can you feel what I'm saying?
Oh Say can you see?
Open your eyes and open your ears
Trump has unleashed a plethora of fears
Slashing aid to those in despair
Make America GREAT?
Let's start with being FAIR
Women Matter
Black Lives Matter
DACA Matters too
What happened to the essence of
Red, White and Blue
Well blacks and blues has become
Dangerous hues
American has unquestionable history
Shoot to kill
Emit Till
Dr. King and other tragedies
That saddens me
Why such painful legacy
What is the reason for such treason?
Why all the aggression and hatred
Some think it's complicated
I know people of color are sacred
It's in our music, in our prayers, it's in our DNA
To climb crystal stairs
It's our foremothers who paved the way
I'm still blessed by my grandmother to this day
It brings me back to center when I pray
America is just fine
It's the leadership and the organized crime
The politicians, the greed is real
Dollars bought the Presidential seal
My country is a melting pot
For the haves and the have nots
Opportunity to rise is find
For those of us who rise and grind
We cannot ignore the unjust laws
We must SPEAK Out for those without a voice
If you are a caring human being
You have no choice
From: Uptown Déjà Vu
Summary
“In this Surreal Moment” by Jimmie Ware is a poem centered on love and relationships, family, music. The poem develops its subject through recurring images and shifts in emotional pressure rather than reducing the experience to a single statement.
Analysis
Voice
A personal, first-person speaker combines recollection with direct emotional address.
Style and form
The poem is musically inflected, line-driven, compressed, first-person. The poem moves by accumulation: images, references, and tonal turns build on one another, so meaning emerges from their relationships as much as from narrative sequence.
Themes and imagery
Its strongest thematic currents include love and relationships, family, music, identity. Concrete images give those abstractions physical weight, while changes in diction and pace keep the poem from settling into a single emotional register.
Reading the poem
A productive way to read “In this Surreal Moment” is to watch how its images change function as the poem progresses. Details that initially establish scene or memory become emotional evidence. The result is a poem whose argument is carried through association, rhythm, and image as much as through explicit statement.
Explore this poem
Source & rights
Source: Uptown Déjà Vu
Rights: Copyright controlled by the rights holder. Published here with permission.