Saved by Shopping
Inspired by and dedicated to (PRODUCT) RED™:
“the coming together of the distinct worlds of Africa and consumerism”, “The Ideals of celebration and empowerment [which] doesn’t rely on negative images or guilt driven participation” and “the joy that bringing two such tangibly different worlds together can create”. (www.joinred.com)
dear santa
i would really like an afrikan baby
like brad and anjelina has
and maddonna
but just for weekends
as im still at school
a boy would be best and i like the fat bellys
but no flys please
if you dont have any left
then an i pod would be ok with tv and films on it
and this would be good to buy me becos
if you get a red one which is my favorit color
bono from u2 and gizell who is goregorg gorjus
will stop afrikan aids
wich is really bad
you could also get me a red motorola mobile with tv and video messages
and other stuff too like an armarni watch converse sneakers and gap clothing
but i wouldnt be allowd the red american express card until im older
i have been good this year
and ive started to eat brocerley
and i bought two wite braselets to make poverty history
merry cristmas
love from simon
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Red Tops
birdsong
arms of a lover
sticky kisses
stretch
yawn.
Metallic Clatter of Letter Box
Robotic Click of Remote Control
good morning,
this is the news
SICK! slopped into breakfast bowls
SHOCK HORROR TRAGIC PANIC
OUTRAGE! spread on burnt toast
INSANE TERROR BOMB KILLER
MURDER! sipped with bitter coffee
VIOLENT ASYLUM GYPSY HOODY
YOB! sandwiched between white bread
SEXY GAY CHEATING PROSTITUTE
ORGASM! sealed in Tupperware tubs
a repeat prescription
1 tabloid a day
sensitive dispositions consult national broadsheet
symptoms persist
do not stare at THE SUN
see no reflection in THE MIRROR
no NEWS OF THE real WORLD
nothing for THE PEOPLE
blank DAILY EXPRESS-ions
TELEGRAPH-ed through partial OBSERVERs
The GUARDIANs of power
sign of THE FINANCIAL TIMES
paparazzi paper nazi
sieg DAILY MAIL
Switch
Click
and now
the weather.
One Percent Empty
Keys, ignition, accelerate.
And with that plan came
bumping, crunching
over bodies, speeding
home to family, to
soak away the desert
in a champagne bubble bath.
Keys, ignition, splutter.
Splutter.
No gas.
No oil.
No power.
Through reinforced windows
glimpse
a change in the weather.
A rain of riot-stones
Humbled in the Back of a Brooklyn Taxi
somewhere between
the jubilation of performing our first New York gig
in front of two paying guests
and the reverie of an upstate library reading
in front of friends, family, strangers
the taxi driver mentions that
he too is a poet
somewhere between
the Jewish quarter with trench-coated men
patrolling the streets with beards, black hat UFO’s
and submachine guns
their women pushing prams
in the surreal twilight,
the taxi driver tells us
he was once on Def Poetry Jam
somewhere between
our failed attempt to find a jazz club
and our much-needed beds
we find a bar
buy the taxi driver a drink
and the taxi driver drops a poem.
he thanks us.
we thank the taxi driver more.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarghhh!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAArghhhh!—
—bolish all
celebration, commotion,
promotion of the notion
that we are free,
de owner of de plantation
now owns de penitentiary
I hear voices:
A chemical brown voice
blairs out
from behind
a plastic bush:
ASBO
TESCO
GITMO
LET’S GO
BACK TO WORK
BACK TO SCHOOL
NO STOPPING
BUSINESS AS USUAL
– CARRY ON SHOPPING.
Organic green voice
spreads seeds
like
neglected weeds:
aaaaaaaaaaaA-bolish all
co-operation with multi-national corporations,
i-pod, i-phone, i-home, i-clone,
i, i, i… me, me, me, me,
quicker cheaper contracts
cannot bring liberty,
turn off big brother,
see reality c–c–t–v
de owner of de plantation
spells apartheID with ID…
Chemical brown
blairs out
from behind
plastic bush:
HUMAN RIGHTS
HAVE GONE WRONG
POLITICAL MADNESS
HAS GONE CORRECT
SEVEN SEVEN
NINE ELEVEN
DATES WE CANNOT
EASILY FORGET.
Organic green
spreads seeds
like
neglected weeds:
aaaaaaaaaaaA-bolish
abomination
of a bomb-making nation.
erase email,
turn Facebook face to a book,
reclaim time and space
that MySpace took,
look up from the gutter,
dim stars of celebrity,
the owner of de plantation
CEO of military…
brown blairs
behind chemical bush:
FREE PRESS
FREE VOTE
FREE MARKET
FREE TRADE
EVERYTHING UNDER CONTROL
DON’T ASK WHERE –
OR HOW – IT’S MADE.
green spreads weeds
neglected seeds:
aaaaaaaaaaaA-bolish de myth
of freedom granted
by philanthropist
free freedom fighting names
of CLR James,
Nkrumah, Nanny, Nehanda and a
thousand Dessalines;
stitch bullet-holes of history
and herstory to see
de owner of de plantation
media monopoly…
brown blairs behind bush:
STICK TO THE CURRICULUM
STAY ON COURSE
TURN TO THE CHAPTER
“ABOLITION
= WILBERFORCE”.
DO NOT UPSET THE SPONSORS
NO, IT’S NOT HYPOCRITICAL
FEEL FREE TO SPEAK FREELY
JUST MAKE SURE IT’S NOT
PO-LIT-I-CAL.
green weeds spread seeds:
aaaaaaaaaaaA-bolish
media monopoly, ID, military,
abolish bomb-making nations,
abolish corporations,
abolish the penitentiary
and – to be truly free,
abolish plantation owners
of de e-k-k-k-onomy