Iftekhar Sayeed

white lies

“We are blessed to be living in a democracy like Bangladesh...,”
US Ambassador Harry K. Thomas said in an interview....
The Bangladesh Observer, June 25, 2005

from a black
ambassador
we expected
truth

he now
does the
white man’s
bidding
forgetting
our ancestry
of bondage

for his
grandfather
individual
captivity
for mine
collective

for black
and brown
people
lies are
murderous

the white man
has
the truth of power
but we have
the power of truth

go home
black friend
to your
white masters
and tell them
they lie

tell our black
brothers
the truth

they will nod
and shake
their curly
heads for
they know
the white man’s
weapon and
weakness

he lies