Larry Chang: Poems

Sounds Like A Stone's Throw

1997/6/10

Another time at another gate, made by a former lover.
Photo Paul Thompson

Badai, badai, bam
The rockstones of bigotry
Resound against the gate
Hurled by the horn-playing red boy
Who'd be cute were he not so full of hate
And his friends.

      When not hurling rocks
      They cast obligatory glances
      Throw acid words of abuse
      Fling boom bye-bye in my face
      Each time they go by
      Unable to pass without compulsive reaction.
 
His father a Rasta Reggae personality
His mother a popular artiste priding
Herself on her conscious lyrics:
Defending black dignity
Denouncing oppression
Declaring freedom.

      For some.

A model family with musical aspirations
Their songs of freedom don't ring true
Their harmonies false, their rhythms hollow
Lyrics empty, melodies sour
Unless One Love One Heart is felt
To include the sodomite down the street
The battyman round the corner.