Sonnet
By Saladin Ahmed
They're burning the world and banning the books
Want you to lie for them or to vanish
But you were taught Talk honestly to crooks
By this city of Arabic and Spanish
This city of English up from the south
This city of motors and rivers
Taught you Watch the eyes, don't watch the mouth
Watch the takers who pretend to be givers
This city of alley and beautiful isle
Prepared you for these coming days
Taught you that the courts don't give a fair trial
Taught you to see through smokescreens and haze
They want you silent. They want antebellum.
But you're from Detroit. Stand up and tell 'em!
Saladin Ahmed is the novelist of Throne of the Crescent Moon and is an Eisner-winning writer of the comics titles Spine-Tingling Spider-Man, Miles Morales, Batman Unburied, Abbott, and more, with new projects Starsigns and Terrorwar on the way.
