Mecca
by D. Blair
They built a club in our neighborhood. Mecca.
I was too young to be asked what I thought.
There was talk of perversity, un-American
activity, talk of violence. Some families spoke
of fear of sending their kids to school
in a neighborhood where "candy" might be
found on the ground the next morning.
They built it anyway. Despite trashcans thrown
through windows, notes attached to rocks. Men
stood like towers in the distance, proclaiming
freedom, arms stretched, their hands held
torches, claiming liberty. The institution was leveled.
Mirrors broken. I was just a boy, who liked dancing
and throwing paper planes, who dreamed of being
a Sphinx for Halloween.
D. BLAIR is a poet, performer, and singer / songwriter from Detroit, MI. He is a 2010 Callaloo Fellow,
2009 Seattle Haiku Slam Champion, 2007 Recipient of BENT Writing Institute’s Mentor of the Year
Award and a 2002 National Poetry Slam Champion from Team Detroit. He’s toured extensively
throughout the U.S., Europe, Africa and submitted to Muzzle Magazine on the eve of his first trip to
Siberia. His band BLAIR & The Boyfriends released their first CD on Repeatable Silence Records.
They built a club in our neighborhood. Mecca.
I was too young to be asked what I thought.
There was talk of perversity, un-American
activity, talk of violence. Some families spoke
of fear of sending their kids to school
in a neighborhood where "candy" might be
found on the ground the next morning.
They built it anyway. Despite trashcans thrown
through windows, notes attached to rocks. Men
stood like towers in the distance, proclaiming
freedom, arms stretched, their hands held
torches, claiming liberty. The institution was leveled.
Mirrors broken. I was just a boy, who liked dancing
and throwing paper planes, who dreamed of being
a Sphinx for Halloween.
D. BLAIR is a poet, performer, and singer / songwriter from Detroit, MI. He is a 2010 Callaloo Fellow,
2009 Seattle Haiku Slam Champion, 2007 Recipient of BENT Writing Institute’s Mentor of the Year
Award and a 2002 National Poetry Slam Champion from Team Detroit. He’s toured extensively
throughout the U.S., Europe, Africa and submitted to Muzzle Magazine on the eve of his first trip to
Siberia. His band BLAIR & The Boyfriends released their first CD on Repeatable Silence Records.