Ferguson #1
It’s not black and white
it’s not that simple
It’s not black and blue or white and blue
It’s blue versus us
us being any civilians
It don’t have to be that way
Nothing ever has to be
but once things are
it takes a mountain and a volcano
and a flood and the earth cracking
to change “the way things are”
Dred Scott is buried near there
It took a war to change
“how things are” with whites and “other peoples”
We shouldn’t need a war this time
but maybe that’s the only way
we know how to do things
The Czar should of listened
when his people petitioned peaceful like
before nineteen oh five became twelve years later
but this is the same damn place
that has to see the same damn dumb things happen
and try to wonder “what those folks want”
In the year 2000
when I was younger and dumber
I was out on the Philly streets not being blue
wondering if I could avoid getting my head cracked
just for being there
and not being blue
It’s me and you and you and you
versus the blues
not that it has to be
just that it too often is
be nice if we could talk about it
once there comes a time
that they want to sit down and talk
First Poem on Ferguson
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About bobsmall1
Bob Small has read at Bacchanal, Barnes and Noble, Borders,
The Booksource (Swarthmore), The Clark Park Festivals,Community College of Philadelphia
Highwire Gallery, The Mad Poets Annual Food Fest Reading,
The Middle East Restaurant, Nexus GalleryThe Painted Bride Arts Center,
The Philadelphia Ethical Society, Robin's Bookstore
The University of Pennsylvania and also in New York City,
Trenton, NJ, Washington, DC, and in many Delaware Valley Venues.
He is the author of numerous chapbooks, including
El Otro Lado (with Maralyn Lois Polak), On watching America Die,
Small Steps and Toes (with Lamont B. Steptoe), and The Unapoet.
This is his first Reading in over a year.
Bob Small was Founder and President of the
two decades old Poets and Prophets,
which presented Poetry Readings
in both Delaware County and Philadelphia.
Bob was the Chair of The Delaware County Green Party and was the
First Green Party Candidate in Delaware County (2005).
He was also a Green Party National Delegate, among other duties.
He is the Founder and Facilitator of
The Pennsylvania Ballot Access Coalition (PaBac),
which is a Coalition of both Independents and Third Parties.,
seeking to legislatively improve Pennsylvania's Ballot Access Laws. (Facebook)
Bob is also a founding member and
Facilitator of Democracy Unplugged, and Delco Debates,
which has presented Independent and Third Party Forums in Delaware County since 2004. Facebook)
He was formerly involved with Cinema Resistance, and Delco Pledge of Resistance.
Bob currently lives in Swarthmore with his wife
and their menagerie of animals.
He is currently focused on writing a Novel and organizing his Poetry, which he posts on his Blog (Bob Small1). He is retired from most of the above activities, except Delco Debates and Poets and Prophets, which he may return to.
robertthesmall 