Monday, October 16, 2023

AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS

a pantoum
by Kai Thigpen




i am not a weapon to be used

in the destruction of a people

 

for i was a stranger in the land

of egypt

 

even if my people sharpen themselves to steel points

or round themselves into bullets

 

thou shalt not murder

the destruction of a people

a choking silence

muffles rounds of bullets

 

thou shalt not use the name of 

 

genocide

 

in vain

 

a choking silence 

a temple destroyed again and again over so many centuries, so many times it’s all we can point to with our free hands while our other hands are soaked in blood from genocide

 

in the beginning

 

some of us have killed

some of us have been told

“you will not be safe if we do not kill”

 

 

a temple destroyed again and again over so many centuries, so many times it’s all we can point to with our free hands while our other hands are soaked in blood:

my people take the shards of the temple, of every country

we have been told to leave, of every house

in which we have needed to hide

and sharpen themselves to steel points

 

 

we have killed

 

therefore set these words 

upon your hearts and souls: i am not a weapon to be used

in the destruction of a people.



Kai Thigpen is a white, non-binary, Jewish poet and therapist serving primarily LGBT+ communities. They live on occupied Lenni Lenape land, in Philadelphia, with their partner and two fluffy cats. Kai's poetry chapbook, habitat, is available from Illuminated Press.