Leftovers (dedicated to those who deserve it and not who don’t and y’all know who you are … don’t you?)

like the radicals before you … who swore
insisted … truly believed
that they were acting ...
speaking on behalf of
were dedicated … committed
would throw down for
were truly … absolutely … representing
the needs of the “working class”
you turned out to be just really hungry … starving
for a leftover piece of the American pie
and your passion was smothered
by once frightened men eager to grant you a morsel
and your passion was smothered
by pride and greed and suspicion
and COINTELPRO cooks
who salivated and more than stoked the flames of your ego
and a by-then warped … insatiable taste for power
and your passion was smothered
as your belly grew full
and your passion was smothered
by their token crumbling slice of the American pie
and those/we who were weaned on the obscure leftovers
of your monumental legacy … are still dreaming
and those/we who were forced to eat the self-hating lies
fed by well-fed specialists and assorted others
who have made a meal or two
from the pain of a people defeated … are still angry
and they/we have grown impatient with the now-hip
sugar-coated, memory-lane rhetoric
spun by media mavens with fiber optic souls
and the children no longer dream
but they/we are still just as hungry
starving for something more substantial
than a token crumbling slice of the American pie
from a left-over such as you

© 1994 by Marina Ortiz

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