Tuesday Poem: "The Zeitgeist is for White Guys"

“Ain’t no Vietcong ever called me ‘nigger’” – Muhammad Ali

The whiteys are whining at the pumps

Frankly, Scarlett, I do give a damn

that it’s costing me a golf sub to fill up my SUV

but there’s damn few niggers in Nigeria getting

rich in that delta just seepage killing their

cassava crops “civil” unrest in Nigeria is pushing

up the price of crude and don’t get me started on

the Chinese, their middle class can kiss my

arse if they want to fondle my Fonterra, stick to

chop suey and save the cardiacs for those that can

afford them, galloping up behind trading rickshaws

for Rolls Royces are the techy-wallahs of

Bangalore banging on about swapping chapatis

for Chardonnay “Michael” from Mumbai “Delia”

from Delhi “Charlie” from Chennai all want a

piece of the pie.

When will it all end?

Come in, Andy, your time is up.

POET'S NOTE: In order to cover myself from any readers who don't appreciate irony, let me stress that this is not a racist poem. The poem inhabits a "character" which expresses the viewpoint of the old Western power bloc, fearful of global financial crisis and the rising influence and power of the developing nations. The Muhammad Ali quote was from when he refused to be drafted to fight in Vietnam and lost his World Title and went to jail for his beliefs. Of course, he was right. It wasn't the Vietcong suppressing black Americans, it was the white capitalist power structure fighting an unpopular war and using poor whites and poor blacks as cannon fodder.

The poet wishes to acknowledge Presto magazine in whose pages this poem first appeared.