By Button Poetry
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Jahman Hill, performing at IWPS 2019 in San Diego, CA.
Transcript provided by YouTube:
00:02
After the El Paso Walmart shooting
00:06
Rudy said
00:07
The only difference between a garden
00:11
and a graveyard
00:12
is what you choose to put in the ground.
00:15
I heard a human went to Walmart to buy seeds
00:19
Their goal to plant a garden
00:22
they did not choose to be the thing put in the ground,
00:25
but they are now a graveyard
00:27
planted with bullets we grow
00:30
indifferent over time
00:33
Over time we glorify the killing
00:35
and over time we become the slaughter
00:38
Any cage put the stem in systemic
00:40
No wonder we can’t get to the root of the problem
00:43
during World War II
00:44
We used to plant Victory Gardens for our country
00:47
that planted Victory graveyards overseas
00:50
Children pushing daisies before they could bud
00:52
our country continues to bloom.
00:55
I heard
00:56
a man went to Walmart to buy bullets
00:59
their goal to plant a graveyard
01:01
They did not choose to be the thing put in the ground
01:04
But they are now
01:06
a garden
01:07
they are still alive
01:09
planted with steel seeds
01:11
we grow indifferent over time.
01:13
This is what it is to put a petal into metal
01:16
and pick shell casings blowing in the wind
01:18
We don’t choose where they put in the ground
01:20
with the seeds scatter is if coming from a shotgun
01:23
I’m afraid my body is full of fertilizer
01:26
and some crazed gardener
01:28
might try to make the grass grow
01:30
Is my skin
01:31
soil in my breath a sign of harvest
01:35
What kind of crop is casket
01:38
why do they crop our lifespans and wonder
01:41
why we complain about the monoculture
01:44
the only difference between a garden in a graveyard
01:48
are seeds of hope and seeds of doubt.
01:50
I and we’re walking flower pot that hopes to never sprout
01:53
I pray no one ever empties a clip of seeds into my earth
01:57
I birth no tragedies
01:58
I flourish but never flower
02:00
but never flowered, but never flower.
02:02
I heard a bullet went to Walmart to buy bullets
02:05
Their goal to plant a bullet
02:07
they did not choose to be the bullet
02:09
put in the body, but they are now a garden
02:13
Planted like the American flag
02:15
a true child of this country
02:17
We grow in different gardens
02:20
but all return to earth too soon
02:22
the circle of life gets smaller and smaller
02:25
until it becomes a bullet point
02:27
We don’t choose before you put in the ground
02:31
But it won’t be the white boy who planted us
02:35
It won’t be the white boy who gave him the seeds
02:39
It won’t be the culture
02:42
It won’t be the country
02:44
but the White House lawn
02:47
has never
02:48
been greener
02:56
You
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This post was previously published on YouTube.
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Photo credit: Screenshot from video
