I will not dance to your war drum...

I will not dance
to your war
drum. I will
not lend my soul nor
my bones to your war
drum. I will
not dance to your
beating. I know that beat
it is lifeless. I know
intimately that skin
you are hitting. It
was alive once
and hunted stolen
stretched. I will
not dance to your drummed
up war. I will not pop
spin break for you. I
will not hate for you or
even hate you. I will
not kill for you. Especially
I will not die
for you. I will not mourn
the dead with murder nor
suicide. I will not side
with you nor dance to bombs
because everyone else is
dancing. Everyone can be
wrong. Life is a right not
collateral or casual. I
will not forget where
I come from. I
will craft my own
drum. Gather my beloved
near and our chanting
will be dancing. Our
humming will be drumming. I
will not be played. I
will not lend my name
nor my rhythm to your
beat. I will dance
and resist and dance and
persist and dance. This
heartbeat is louder than
death. Your war drum ain't
louder than this breath.

Suheir Hammad

It's taken me a long time to decide to start this site. Those who suggested the idea months ago know it... Well, finally, here it is.

I just came back from listening Suheir Hammad in some spoken word event, and thought that would be a good way to start.