At Spandau
In a fortress built to hold six hundred men,
I, the only inmate, am awakenedat six a.m., clean my cell and walk
a solitary paththrough the wooded grounds.
Who am I? What did I do wrong?The men who guard me do not speak.
All news of world eventsis cut from what I hear and read.
For forty years, I've lived in suspensefor history. Once a month
Ilse comes. We're not permitted touch. [End Page 143]At dusk, my spectacles
are taken from me and I sleep.Even my dreams are guarded. The wind
in the cedars sounds like the sea.In a fortress built to hold six hundred men,
I, the only inmate, am awakenedat six a.m., clean my cell and walk
a solitary path
through the wooded grounds.
Who am I? What did I do wrong?The men who guard me do not speak.
Ilse comes. We speak through glass.At dusk, my spectacles
are taken from me and I sleep. [End Page 144]Tomorrow is Today
The time has come when silence is betrayal
said Martin Luther King. He paid his dues.
And was his martyrdom to no avail?The annual Martin Luther King Day sale,
the schools we named for him, the big to do's?
There comes a time when honor is betrayal.Whoever wins, it is the rich prevail,
in Nam and here at home, the poor who lose,
and is their sacrifice to no avail?Said Martin Luther King, whose words we hail
from helipads in Babylon. Vast views
of ruins in ruin recall an old betrayal.He stood with Jesse Jackson at the rail
Touching his death, and certain troubling clues,
the truth came out in court to what avail?Blue plastics maim, the blades of Hueys flail.
Good people lip-synch in their Sunday pews.
There comes a time conformity's betrayal.The tears that fell behind Coretta's veil,
the photos viewed in silence on the news
Is their martyrdom to no avail?
There comes a time when silence is betrayal.
Belle Randall's books of poetry include True Love, Drop Dead Beautiful, The Orpheus Sedan, and 101 Different Ways of Playing Solitaire. She has taught in several creative writing programs, including Stanford University's.