culture fix

1.

in a northern city
statues commemorate the union dead
in a southern city
the confederate.
how much of a difference is this?
martin luther king claims that
the negro of 1963 understood the significance of
one hundred years since emancipation.
if so, how far are we from that consciousness?
four decades?
two generations?
further?

2.

a generation of children
tear one another to shreds
driven by drugs, diamonds,
and a willing 'market' economy.
in africa, we call that 'civil war.'
in this country, we call it 'gang violence.'
what's the distinction?
the africans have:
more resources
more money changing hands &
more deaths.
in short, they're doing a better job
at a horrible thing.

3.

there is this:
the offspring of european settlers in africa
were honest
in calling africa their home.
it was, in the truth of it,
a painful contradiction.
to be in a place you clearly don't belong
- resting on a history of theft and murder-
and yet, unmistakably,
grounded.

4.

to go a place
solely to help
is the first mistake.
among mistakes, there are worse.
but self-proclaimed helpfulness
is one of the harder errors
to admit to.

5.

can a horror be stopped
by speaking of it more clearly,
more accurately?
there seems to be little evidence for that position.
still, the believers of this viewpoint
continue to push on
and proselytize,
to boot.