Utopia
Land of milk and honey
Streets paved with gold
Or so we were told,
Or so we were told.
A far cry from the truth
That came to light
And how it differed from the lies
When our fathers docked in northern cities
On merchant ships
Searching for a better way
When our cousins docked on the Windrush
Looking for their Motherland
They too soon learned that
Utopia is nowhere.
Ou’ is Not
Topos, a Place.
Utopie in the sky.
Not eu.
Not good.
Not a tangible neighbourhood.
It is literally nowhere.
Some say it borders Achora,
Polyleritae or Macarenses.
But dear Hythlodaeus, pray tell me about this place.
If it’s so real tell me about this place.
Tell me how to get there and what I am to find.
Tell me if my dreams will come true.
Tell me if there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
Tell me if there is a rainbow at all.
Tell me if I may have my daily bread and water
Or are we to fetch our water from the river Anydrus?
So where are we going?
And where are you going?
And for whom are you waiting while your life passes you?
While your hair goes grey and your children grow up.
Did you even notice?
Did you even know?
Utopia. Pff.
We need more than navel gazing and futile introspection.
This Utopia is more “you topia” not “my topia”.
Nay, I want space to Breathe. To think. Critique.
One where the language is mine.
The politics too.
But until then, who will take the kids to school
and
What shall we have for dinner tonight?
Oh Hythlodaeus, tell me how to hustle this life.
Tell me how to survive this place.
Tell me how to raise my kids
And
How to fetch my water from a tap that is not poisoned.
Tell me how my sons can walk the road and not be killed by the men
They pay their taxes, to protect them.
Hythlodaeus, can you tell me how
My daughters can be judged instead for their intellect and character
Rather than their hue and the cloth that covers their skin?
What sin
Did we commit to be corralled,
Prevented,
Caged
And
Stripped of our humanity?
Does your Utopia save us from this modern day internment?
I need to know how to make it on out of here.
This Topos.
How to live in this topos.
How to thrive in this topos.
How to eat and sleep and fight for a justice denied.
There is much to do in this Topos.
So you can keep your Utopia.
I live here.
Where Can I Go?
Where else can I go
When all the doors seem closed
And minds are switched
Off
To what I have to say?
I never asked for their agreement
Endorsement
Or approval
Just for a chance to speak.
There was a time when we spoke
To one another
And others
Agreed to disagree
But we spoke.
Where else can I go
When I’m too something for the mainstream
When I’m too extreme to be humanised
Or too liberal to be trusted
Just too unconventional
My face too covered
Or my hair not covered enough
Too black and not Arab enough
Not desi enough
Too queer or misunderstood
Too revert and not schooled enough
Too sell out and not bold enough
Too something for someone.
Where else can I go?
In whose bosom can I sob my intellectual
tears
My philosophical pearls and questions
In whose space can I be held
And listened to
Even if every word I utter is dissent.
Where else can I go
If not here?
Innovation
The birth of a nation
The very motivation
For expansion
On information
Studying the causation
Of chemical Ionisation
Mathematical integration
The fascination
Borne of desperation
Of looking for hydration
To maintain the human civilisation
Leads to the negation
And accusation
Of deviation
Beyond salvation
And the insinuation
Is, without hesitation
That the revelation
Has made it an obligation
That you will be a considered a cancellation
From the population.
This normalisation
Of endless condemnation
Can only lead to stagnation
When interpretation
Should be open to participation
Or it becomes justification
For the devaluation
And subsequent subjugation
Are you following my argumentation?
Let me add a little quantification
For the purpose of prolongation
If the classification
And over simplification
Are a continuation
It is a misrepresentation
Of the proclamation
The Maker of this Creation
Deserving of Exaltation
We need the preservation
Of the diversification
Prolification
An augmentation
A confederation
For opposing observations
Allowing for one’s affirmations
With respectful navigations
And careful examinations
Not alienating damnations
This location
Witnesses a congregation
Of varying vocations
And occupations
Travelling for lengthy durations
To exchange narrations
With those who don’t share their associations
Or denominations
With differing ideas on salvation
And who is best for emulation
All of these the fruits of Innovation
And this here delegation,
Please continue these conversations.