I truly hope that I may live to know
Why private words differ from public show.
Actions command a symbiotic scope;
That I may live to know, I truly hope:
For years I heard you spew hatred and lies.
From small to large, power framed your disguise.
Posing deep concern, you calmed students’ fears;
I heard you spew hatred and lies for years.
Many you found dull and unappealing;
Comments you made always sent me reeling.
Out of earshot, your disdain was not bound;
Dull and unappealing, many you found.
Your message, your tone was always the same:
High expectations but teach with disdain;
Minimal empathy for efforts shown.
Always the same was your message and tone.
Do you remember? I still hear your voice:
“They’re just so lazy; to fail is their choice.”
So began your classes each September;
I still hear your voice; do you remember?
In these troubled times, I now hear you shout
That “Black Lives Matter” – total turnabout.
“White America must pay for its crimes!”
I now hear you shout, in these troubled times.
Each day your public persona gains speed;
Champion white knight for the Black man’s needs.
Posting on line and protesting away,
Your public persona gains speed each day.
Have you really changed, or is this a ruse
To wipe away years of practiced abuse?
To suddenly become strident seems strange;
Is this a ruse, or have you really changed?
Perhaps I am wrong; you truly do care
to win equal rights all need daily share.
Perhaps…even though it’s taken so long,
You truly do care; perhaps I am wrong...
People can grow; I know it to be true.
I pray that is what has happened to you.
May your actions be sincere, not just show.
I know it to be true; people can grow.
<<<~~~>>>
With firm resolve, we can learn from our past.
Equality must come first and not last.
Racial tone-deafness demands to be solved.
We can learn from our past ... with firm resolve.
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Author Notes
The Swap Quatrain was created by Lorraine M. Kanter.
Within the Swap Quatrain, each stanza in the poem must be a quatrain (four lines) where the first line is reversed in the fourth line. In addition, line 2 must rhyme with line 1, and line 3 must rhyme with line 4 and so on, BUT not repeat the same rhyming pattern on subsequent stanzas.
Rhyming pattern: AABB, CCDD, and so on.
(www.shadowpoetry.com/resources/wip/swapquatrain.htm
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