The More They Stay the Same
Centuries of segregation
Legalized discrimination
Human rights violations
Racial inequality
Standard public policy
Finally recognized
Civil rights realized
As the decades slip away
Generations feel betrayed
Living still with bigotry
And police brutality
Dressed up in the guise of justice
Citizens deprived of justice
This is my response to Quadrille #105: Cry Havoc and Let SLIP the Dogs of War —
the prompt from Linda at dVersePoets Pub, which is to use the word slip
in a 44-word poem, with no required meter or rhyme.
This started as a simple, spare poem that I decided could be a quadrille:
A year slips away
A decade
A generation
Two
Bigotry and hatred
Remain
In the guise of justice
Belying justice
Image: screenshot of George Floyd dying as he’s choked by Derek Chauvin (25 May 2020)
rivrvlogr 
Powerful image and words! We had unrest last night just a short walk from my house. People protesting and rioting in the Walgreen’s parking lot. Some threw stones at the drive thru pharmacy window. The police stopped it by…taking a knee! And giving out hugs!
LikeLike
Thank you, and wow.
A thousand people gathered at the Capitol last night, then marched to Lincoln University and back. Peaceful, but 3 store windows were broken, afterwards.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I just saw an article about that.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is so powerful and sad Ken.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Linda. Unfortunately, there are those, from both sides, who see this as an opportunity to engage in violence.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes…
LikeLiked by 1 person
There is a lot of hatred today.
LikeLike
It seems that everything gained can be lost… alas nothing has changed.
LikeLike
I pray for change… and peace.
LikeLiked by 1 person
❤
LikeLike
I like both versions – you’ve nailed the betrayal felt by many
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Jazz.. These are troubling times.
LikeLike
So much in that poem, a documentary of injustice, thank you Ken.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Paul.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Most welcome Ken
LikeLiked by 1 person
It adds up to more than anyone can bear. (K)
LikeLiked by 1 person
And here we are.
LikeLiked by 1 person
K gave me the word…unbearable. Gruesome comes to mind as well. I find your original simpler poem to be particularly powerful.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sigh.
Thank you, Janice.
LikeLiked by 1 person
May this create a tipping point for change, change for the better.
LikeLiked by 1 person
One can hope!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Let’s hope this is turning point leading to real policy changes in the States and here in Canada. Racism has been thriving for far far too long as your poems communicate.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, thank you, Janice. Hopefully this is a turning point, and hopefully our coming presidential election will be a pivot point. Having a president who is incapable of empathy or compassion would be a big help. I see Trump’s posturing and his tweets, and then I listen to Trudeau’s response to Trump’s call for military intervention against American citizens, in which Trudeau acknowledges Canada’s own problems with systemic racism while calling for healing. Trump would never do that.
LikeLiked by 2 people
terrifying stasis. so oppressive, to not be able to breathe
LikeLiked by 1 person
And so casually “enforced.”
LikeLiked by 1 person