Poem written in jail by comrade Dallas and read aloud at an International Working Women’s Day event in Austin, Texas. The reactionary state arrested the partner of comrade Dallas before March 8th and she was unable to attend the event. We post it here to rally support for their fight. #freedallas, freedallas@protonmail.com
i don’t know your name yet
on this i have a few ideas
but i don’t know your face yet
in spite of this i trace
all your features
in my mind
to my unborn child,
your father is in stripes
but your father is no ordinary inmate
i want you to know this
and one day come to grasp
all the reasons i came
to be here
to my unborn child,
your father is a revolutionary
revolutionaries in this country
are quickly stamped out
if not, and far more often,
bought up
bought and paid for
given book deals
academic teaching jobs
the rest face prison
death.
for those who
are not bought up
and will not be
to my unborn child,
they were unable to kill me
by breaking my neck in two places
so now in their frustration
they attempt to kill my heart
by locking me away before i get to hear yours beat
for the first time
but it beats in my mind
it beats
and beats
like a fucking war drum
to my unborn child,
your father is a Communist
we Communists have no fear
armed with the truth
that we may well be struck down by the enemy
which already gorges itself
on our class, yet
wherever we fall
others may rise
our cause carried on to its conclusion
servants of the final class
it is my dream, my unborn child
that you will come to know
yourself as a Communist
that you will raise our red flag
to never let it drop
and you will remember your fathers words
come what may, and our martyrs many
and on the road still very long and tortuous
our hearts will be linked in time
the only pains we feel
are birthing pains of
a better world to come
ones where fathers to be
are not separated from
their unborn children
one where the red flag flies victorious
and our enemies are
but a bad memory having converted to dust
it must be this way my unborn child
and you must help to make it so
and i want you to take note
of the absolute, desperate disdain
in the chorus of enemy voices
the first time they call you a Communist—
hold it
relish it
we are a rejection
of their backward “values”
their whole damn world
because we have seen freedom rise
once in the Soviet Union
and never higher than in China
before freedom fell again
lower than ever
in that low
millions of revolutionaries wore these stripes
“criminals” all
just like your father
but my unborn child do not fret
we are in the good company of history
the history of class struggle
of standing and falling for something better
may you never fear the inside of enemy cages
they cannot win
you and millions like you,
the children of the last class are promised so little
deserving of so much
you become the children of the revolution
when robbed of your fathers
so my unborn child,
please study the works of Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin, Mao
and Gonzalo
and know the truth when you hear it
your ears, at the time i write this
are just now developing
and i know, just as class struggle develops fighters like me,
your mother, and our comrades
you will develop ears, ears that hear the truth
and eyes too, ones that can see reality
and a mind that can comprehend philosophy
but most importantly you will develop hands
hands for grasping, working and for fighting
to my unborn child,
your mother will hear your heart beating
for the first time on March 8th, 2018
international working women’s day!
she is my hero
a genuine fighter for our class
and while i may be robbed of this moment
by the state which demands my blood,
blood already consigned to the revolution
which like yourself is just a promise of life
like you it is still a small thing in this wretched country
and like you we love it so very much
like you, my unborn child
our revolution will grow
through leaps
let you both grow into a maelstrom
which makes the enemy scurry and cower
but more importantly
raises the spirits of the indomitable masses
my dear unborn child,
it is my dream that you become
the type of person
who’s heart sores with the joy of the people
who is sensitive to their pain
the type of person who never yields or retreats
in your own fight for our class
and for our people
my unborn child it is my hope
that you come to understand the meaning of my words
and forgive my absence now
and in time to come
dare to think and dare to act
for this better world
it is Communism which brings life to our dying world
to my unborn child,
i already love you with the intensity and passion
which I reserve only for revolution
and our bravest comrades and martyrs
with my words i wish to give you the world
just be the type of person willing to fight for it!
Poem by Comrade Dallas
