Dalit (Revision 1)

Thanks for the suggestions on the first draft!

Dalit 

Your name and prospects and platform
have been blitzed by that SS (safe space)
ideology, bent in its progressive posture
on ensuring that no one—well, no one 
on the “to protect” list—gets unsettled. 
But naked men have no pockets to pick.
Think, then, of the freedoms that open 
in your coming home to the underclass 
out of which you clawed a bit (writing
the very poetry that got you “canceled” 
by “progressives,” poetry these whites
told you as a kid would be a ticket out).

Now you can speak your mind, tell—
former—co-professors they look nice 
(even ask them out). You can make art
on controversial subjects, tell stories 
with “problematic” characters, read 
the n-word aloud in quoting Twain.
You can separate art from the artist.
You can take a stand against injustice
(even if that involves opposing groups 
deemed never wrong). Without fear
of being laid lower, you can do CPR
even on a cop or a white supremacist.

*This poem is unpublished. An older version can be found here: maistvanjr.substack.com/p/dalit

Photo: pxhere.com/en/photo/1164371