I was reflecting on the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55) and thinking this might need to be the response from a privileged person like me. I imagined singing this to myself when I am tempted to join one of the basic lies that props up the powerful.
Stand a Little Taller? No!
Fuck grit and determination!
Damn your bootstraps and your boots!
To hell with your self-made mythologies;
You’re standing on the dead, you brute!
And as a gangrenous wound
Goes creeping up the limb,
You’re not too far from sepsis,
Knee-deep as you are in sins.
Stand a little taller? No!
Double amputation is the only way.
Be forced into prostration,
And then maybe, maybe. May
All your stories be upended,
And the truth shine in your songs.
May tomorrow be unending
In your getting small, so, so small and strong.
You can listen to me read it here:
https://soundcloud.com/benwhitepoetry/stand-a-little-taller-no-m4a
Today, if you hear his voice 