Tenuous

Our power is tenuous
Always tenuous
The ground can open up
And swallow us whole
At any moment
And we know it
We always know it
What will the goyim think
Becomes our refrain
Keep your head down
Watch your back
And yet you are oblivious
To this dynamic
Despite its having repeated
Throughout the millennia
You have the luxury and privilege
Of living in the present
Looking at a tiny sliver of the pie
Because history is too complicated
And inconvenient for your to digest
And so you point at every indication
Of our wealth and influence here today
With thinly veiled resentment and contempt
As if we are the devil in disguise
With supernatural powers
To dominate control and disembowel you
Instead of a heavily persecuted minority
With a fiery spirit
The refusal to give up or give in
Cultural values and practices
Enabling us to rise up
Again and again
You cast us as separate from you
And choose to feel threatened
Instead of inspired
Like a barrel of crabs
Focusing their strength efforts on
Pulling down the one who is able
To rise up and get away
And ironically as you paint our power
In a tainted light
You are the very force of our undoing
Opening up the ground
To swallow us whole

©2015 by Loolwa Khazzoom. All rights reserved. No portion of this article may be copied without author’s permission.