These are the people
Of childlike races
So the generals say.
This is the culture
Of familiar faces
The prisoners play.

I was one of the young prodigies
Conceiving a new day.
My imaginings
Drew the stern hand
These are the ways
To make a rebel behave.

These are the ways
To make a rebel behave.
The prizes to the pious,
And to the rebel the shame.
Prostrate; silent.

They will gather us in the stadium
Drug us and drop us from planes.
Dismiss and disdain the cadence
To make a rebel behave.

These are the ways
To make a rebel behave.

Power is all about memory
And the writings of history
And if we fail to get ours in . . .

I’ve a photo of you praying
On the day of the invasion
The one keepsake I’m saving
Against the day
They make a rebel behave.

Now the problem power faces
How to occupy the spaces
Of the memory we’re making.

Today the poets dream a nation
From memories we’d forsaken.
Our conquered imagination
All the ways
They made a rebel behave.

These are the people of childlike races
This is the culture of familiar faces
Now the lines of dissent we’re tracing
Disappear
These are the ways
To make a rebel behave.

All is hope. All is hope.