social commentary
There's a rich history of poetry serving as social commentary, intended to inspire calls to action.
Cardboard Man. Runner-Up in After the Parade Challenge.
I saw him only last week, through triangles of bunting, triangles like the patterned patches Mum sewed on my jeans to cover-up rips. He looked straight at me; his gaze pierced balloon-bouquets and wanton streamers to reach me—I see you looking—and he stripped me naked—of my Pride, of my uniform. I saw him that day, on the ground, when the party bokeh-blurred, when clouds, curious, watched their rainbows extend down to join the heady revelry. Hope painted the canvas of celebration, a kaleidoscope of jubilation. Colours flashed in abundance, dizzying with their final release at this long-awaited party. Sequinned harlequins waved painted nails above couples making out, above gyrating hips of dancers lost in music. I asked him then, ‘are you here for the parade?’ He answered, ‘parade?’ I pass his way every day now, but I don’t know why exactly.
By Teresa Renton4 years ago in Poets
