Revolutionary Persona

Phillip Chee

Dialogue within my head [4/6]
He took on the persona of a revolutionary
wanting to live the life of the heroes
he read. This all part of a weary

life living as one goes
about bringing meaningful experiences,
fulfilling relations, honest work

rewarding, passionate, erotic chances
spiritual and intellectual poetry that lurk
in the corners of society. And often it

seems, he is confronted with the realization
everywhere he turns, people shit
in his face, which emboldens him more to insurrection.

Why must we accept this bloody
world. This awful, shit-faced earth
that fosters the worst in humanity

from the inequality of property and so forth
to the unfairness of class rule, exploitation
meanness of spirit, impersonal social ties

urban anomie and rural alienation,
indignant violence and immoral vice
degrading, destructive labour, utter

despair, hopelessness, political manipulation
a polluted environment; why suffer
the indifferent elements of this situation.

He still dreams. Still has hope
but not the optimism of naive youth.
His ambivalent dance with the tender Trollope

Fortune keeps his mind working
on the possibility that there will
be a time when all of this fucking

hell is pushed aside so freedom fills
the hearts of men and women, joy and
creativity the measure of life, compensation for

those not able, honour and respect command
social relations between people of all colour,
creed and means. Still, there is that dream.

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