wildscape. literary journal

RAGE MANIFESTO
by alfonzo solomon kahlil

listen to me, it says
deny me no longer, it begs 
with torn flesh in its mouth 

let me talk my shit
let me pop off 
let me be too much 
let me be enough 

let me sink my teeth / sharpened meticulously into fangs 
into my boss’s throat 
let the blood that geysers my uniform (my bar code)
be a baptismal
let the cleansed me that emerges / be a beast with maroon-shot eyes 
eyes that saw less than i ever felt 

let this new spirit be a vanguard / let this new creature be a courier 
a bellower / a herald / a revealer / a shaman 
some new being that delivers the real good news 
a gospel of grief / a choir of sorrow 
a young child weeping for a definition of love 
they can understand 

let it be a roar / a magnificent echo 
let it shake every foundation / let it befoul every villain 
let it be heard 
let it not be stifled / not again / let it ring 
let it erupt from my own throat 
let it shake off every chain slapped on my wrist / may it break shackles 

may it be louder than my own 
prayers 

let it raise the dead 
let it not fall on deaf ears / let it not fall 

let it raise so high to the heavens 
God, finally, hears it

about the author // alfonzo solomon kahlil