Are we really only one quarter of the way through? Let’s keep it going!

The Evolution of the Chant

Started so simple
yes we can
translating hope and 
change into action, 
sí se puede, 
translating American dreams
into DACA dreams
(or is it 
the other way 
around?) dreams 
a long night’s
journey into broad 
daylight with work
to be done, 
no choice but 
to be fired 
up, ready to 
go and the 
go go go
got up and 
went and soo
those shouts were
drowned out by
drain the swamp 
and lock her
up until Foggy 
Bottom got turned 
turvy topsy with 
the monkey running
the circus, monkey
whose spinning and
spinning failed to
build the wall
and lock her
up and meanwhile
in non-white ‘Murikkka
the bubbling brew
was reaching boiling
point, long heating
and percolating and
churning, steam murder
on the lungs
that still somehow
shout I can’t
breathe! and everywhere
in exasperation and
fear hands up!
and in exasperation
and fear don’t
shoot! and still
I can’t breathe
and between wheeze
and knees and
choked hopes, there
is a rumble
and roar of
Black Lives Matter
and when they
ask, they say
his name and
when they forget
they say her
name and black
lives matter gets
louder as they
counter all or
worse white which
worsens into four
more years and
we respond no
justice, no peace
and four more
years and no
racist police and
Black Lives Matter
so we Vote!
because yes we
can and they
try to stop
that with a
stop the steal
and there is 
no stoppin’
no stoppin’
no stoppin’
no stoppin’
because there is
no stealin’ no
rhymin’ and they
get to stealing,
looking to bring
out pence so
they can hang
mike pence after
they take the
building trying to 
fight for trump
and the chants 
seem to be
drowned out by
window smashing and
certification crashing and
above the din
and after the 
din we add
lock him up
and our inner
voice reminds us
I AM SOMEBODY
our outer voice
rouses We Can
Do More. We
Will Do More
and with our 
outer voice and
inner voice combined
it is the
boost we need
yes we can
sí se puede.

©David Siller – 2021

*****

For the first 100 days of the Biden administration, this website will feature a new poem of What’s Next!? These pieces can be calls to action, calls to attention, or calls to anger. They will light the way and guide the fight. They will get us moving and keep our momentum. They will be filled with hope, with anger, with sorrow. They will get us into good trouble and point out the trouble we need to stop. They will be polished gems, or rough-cut drafts of rage, or in-process pieces searching for peace. They may be haiku or tanka, limericks or lyrics, verses free or fettered.

#100Days100Poems of What’s Next!? wants your poems, your prose, your visual art (photos, drawings, sculptures), your music, your short films and animations. Interpret the theme as broadly as you’d like.

If you would like to submit to this endeavor, please send an email, with your visual art (as .jpg or .pdf) or your poem saved as a word document (.docx) to waxyandpoetic AT gmail DOT com. Include a short bio (2-3 sentences) and social media/website information. All rights remain with the author. Please address any formatting preferences in your email. Waxyandpoetic.com will post submissions time permitting, with at least one per day beginning 20 January 2021.

Read, follow, share, submit, live, love, spread light! Don’t forget to use #100Days100Poems !