Photo by Tennessee Reed.


 Ishmael Reed Publishing Company ©1998   
 Managing Editor: Tennessee Reed   
 Business Manager: Carla Blank   
 Site Design: Marlyse Hansemann   

   

    THE EXPLOITER

    It is not the slum

    There is nothing illegal

    This is the place of exploited people
    They are those whom you drove out
    This is
    the palace of the leaves

    This is the world of cardboard.

    Why do the helpful tin pieces

    Now pierce your heart?

    You complain the view is lousy

    Through your window,

    But when you see a young girl,

    Why is your eye fixed upon her?

    The air is polluted that side.

    The area is full of smoke.

    But vultures never miss it,

    When they spot a dead body.

    They search for cheap labor

    In these shanty towns.

    The poor people get crushed

    And you enjoy the life.

    The robber wears a suit.

    His tie is but a noose.

    And if there was a God

    He'd be hanging from it.

    This is not a dirty settlement.

    Don't demolish it by bulldozer

    Just clear your own mind

    Where greed is fermenting

    The compassionate pieces of tin

    Provide us shade.

    But you couldn't give anything,

    Though you were born a human being.

     V. K. Chowdhary