Rank and File

by Lamont Lilly / May 8th, 2016

bring your homemade signs
on cardboard
and wooden sticks.
bring your mic and megaphone
to loan voice.

bring your rocks
and molotov cocktails
in case they bring it.
bring your fire
for the teargas
that’s sure to come.

tell the scouts
to stay awake out there
we’re depending on them.

bring the women
so we can stand together
and fire back.

• This poem is from Lamont Lilly’s forthcoming debut Honor in the Ghetto (Fall 2016).

Lamont Lilly is an independent journalist, Black radical activist, poet and community organizer based in Durham, North Carolina. In 2016, he was the Workers World Party U.S. vice-presidential candidate. Follow him on Twitter @LamontLilly Read other articles by Lamont.

This article was posted on Sunday, May 8th, 2016 at 8:01am and is filed under Poetry.