by Madeline Lee
It Is Us Who Rule The Sky
after The Black Unicorn by Audre Lorde
Di saat genting
Immigrants
mereka yang ditolak
Rakyat
trapped in an oppressive system
that disenfranchised humanity
that stripped the sentimentality
of the five Rukun
i.
Kepercayaan kepada Tuhan.
When the rakyat is torn apart
as clamant political machinations
saw through
suara madani
ii.
Kesetiaan kepada Raja dan Negara.
When Hadi says it’s all a test
from God
When the Prime Minister calls
himself Abah
Little armchair elites
politicking while the virus wreaks havoc
When questioned
menepis dan berpura-pura
iii.
Keluhuran Perlembagaan.
When the Parliament is obsessively beguiled
M40 and B40 given crumbs
While the aristocrats do as they please
hiding flaws discreetly
forming small, hemed-in enclaves
Their arrogance, permanent in coal
kneeling before palm oil barons
iv.
Kedaulatan Undang-undang.
When Budget 2021 aroused suspicion
When 32.7 million were promised a garland
of spring blooms
Pledge campaigns shelved
electorates forgetting
that a week’s an age in politics
and
wherever crooks invest
v.
Kesopanan dan Kesusilaan.
In milo peng and kolo mee kat mamak
eating each other’s worries
as we bersembang
tentang nasib terumbang-ambing
tentang sifat kebiasaan baharu
tanpa sehiris kesan kebiasaan
About how
in knowing
there is no knowing
But, the freshwater is rising
And so are we
Watch the tides melds with coal
nothing is permanent in lead
Ensnared between ink and bourgeoisies’ hands
what has been erased
rubbed away
our culture
our memories
Gut and sanitise they give
expecting us to swallow
without batting an eye
Did you really think
it was going to be easy?
Only profit
on your mind
hardly noticing
the crows
hidden between squares of black heat
playing with permanence
filling up the page with a pencil
a language
a dream
then using fingertips to rub
until only a revolution is left
Time running out
the scoreboard ticking down
match point
one spike left to go
You cannot destroy the souls
of the people who persevere
The soon-to-be victors will bask
in the glory they will hold
once the timer reaches zero