Dr. King once said, “A riot is the language of the unheard.” And maybe some of you are familiar with the saying, “A hard head makes for a soft behind.” When there is any violent outburst against the institutions of power, it is when the deaf and blind state has left a trail of injustice that has stretched the patience of the nation, if not … Continue reading Starting From the Bottom by Xavier Jones
Just as there are hierarchies in the echelons of politics, families, business, religion etc., there is also that which exists on social media. However, this last one is without doubt the most unstable as freedom of speech finds itself in the most awkward of positions. On one hand, people claim to believe in it because it allows them to say things that would make the … Continue reading Social Media Hierarchy by Xavier Jones
We are the friendliest publishers, because we do so involuntarilyMessages are incessantly slapped into our handsAnd with the greatest indifference we read the texts aloud,Well as loud as the authors would like to think we doNot forgetting of course, their sense of righteousness, and therefore urgencyWe must repeat this message for an undetermined durationAll the while we are assaulted with new publicationsEither demanding or enacting … Continue reading Voices by Xavier Jones
Le ventre de la Place de la Révolution s’était rempli par des masses parisiennes assoiffées de justice. Ce jour froid de janvier, ils boiraient chaud. Mais ce jour-là, la boisson serait épicée d’un ingrédient inconnu depuis l’ascension des premiers rois d’histoire: l’égalité. Le devoir ne s’est fait ni sans hésitation, ni avec un zèle sanguinaire non plus. La seule espèce de cérémonie, le roulement insolent … Continue reading Des scènes d’un match de foot by Xavier Jones
“Anything in your pockets we should know about?”I wish I could have said “My pen”If they ever read this I’ll bet they’ll wishThey actually had the order of the public prosecutor to stop and frisk Three against one, but unassailable in my innocenceAll of us wearing masks to protect ourselves from one virusAnd yet three germs from another surround meI knew I would never know … Continue reading Outrage by Xavier Jones
I’m packing every day. Don’t make me pull it outI’ve got you in my sights, but I’m not a sniperI’m staring you in the face. Let’s go cowboyWho’s the quickest on the draw?Someone’s life might end before this standoff is overYou better not miss, because I won’tYou’ve clearly never saw La HaineWell this is the last sceneI’m Hubert, and this is for Vinz and AbdelNo … Continue reading Killshot by Xavier Jones
As the smoke rose their hypocrisy again fellDisguised as water that only further fueledAn inferno of consciousness and contemptFor clouds blown in on the winds of opportunismPassing to pretend for a rare momentTo be part of the collective effortTo support our fragile motherWhose love for her children and strangers alikeIs truly abundant and unconditionalGracious enough is she to overlook their faultsAs she was raised to … Continue reading Life-Sparing Water by Xavier Jones
I once could say it, not knowing what I was sayingThose words came as naturally as breathingAnything contrary to the truth they taught me was blasphemyAnd under He in whom I trusted, I would take any crusade I choked on those words as my illusions went upIn the smoke of the very passion blazing inside of meMy beloved historiography had had its way with meAnd … Continue reading I am… by Xavier Jones
Mercenaries to massacre patriots?Rumors in 1789 Reality in 2020Patriots, to the Bastille! Yes, that is right. Mercenaries, not public servants.They have abdicated this honorAnd exchanged it for the oppressor’s opprobrium Patriots, to the Bastille!There was no other wayThere is no other wayStop the procrastination, known as promises of reformPatriots, to the Bastille! How many days did Desmoulins predict the massacre to endure?Does it matter? Each day … Continue reading The Days of Saint Bartholomew by Xavier Jones
Dear friend, I thought we would have lasted longer than we did. But no sooner did we go our separate ways, you disappeared. I thought that the distance simply became too great and you sank over the horizon, or that the sun setting on our time together had turned you into a shadow, but no. By the time I had turned around you had vanished. … Continue reading Reaching Out (I) by Xavier Jones
