The Salute
They say that,
back in the day.
You could know all you needed to know about a man,
through his hand shake.
Never done with the left because of what it would insinuate
But, the firm gripping of two right hands,
a couple of up and down motions,
eye contact,
and then release…
is all it would take.
To seal or break deals
The, tell tale test that would suggest…
Naw, indisputably dissect,
whether or not a man was real or fake.
Why do you think fraternities do it?
Secrets and understandings computed
without conversation.
A handshake,
was the original foundation upon which most corporations and organizations were created.
Cuz, contracts,
can be negated
Undone, re-written, and then re-created
But, if you shook on something,
you did so with confidence.
Because a mans word given over the clasping of hands,
Was his bond
And God help him if after that point anything went wrong
Because not only would his reputation be harmed…
His whole name would be gone
Meaning nothing to anyone of consequence
And this action
Originates from the era of the knights
A time of valor and honor
When a man was only as good as his sword and his armor
And helmets obscured vision so you could not know
Whether or not the next armor clad man was friend or foe
So they raised visors to see who they were talking to
And this tradition grew into what we now recognize as the salute
Yes
We shake with our right,
because it’s the most practical way for two men to salute each other
The recognition that
Even if not friends
They were now brothers
With armor like suites and sword like pens
Contracts and paper work were merely shields to deflect the attacks of competitors
That is, until recent
The age of technology is the age of the paper man
Invisible strands of DNA like information
Creating the image of who you are
And if you don’t look good on paper
than you are of no use to me
they could care less about the man that they see
Because the word to believe
Is found on the skin of dead trees
i
If there isn’t a paper trail to view
Than who the hell are you
They don’t care about the flesh
They just want a thick file on their desk
So if they don’t like you
they can file you away with the rest
We are no longer defined
By our actions or our minds
But by what can be word checked and “justify” aligned
Into a five point format
And yet
We complain about the government doing illegal wire taps on our phone lines
When, they’ve been paper tapping our lives for generations
The government knows more about us than we know about ourselves
Dossiers of our lives sitting up on shelves
We are no longer people,
Just 4d information
But I refuse to be defined by a resume, grades or a GPA
I’m a scholar in every way
Saying more in five lines
Than any straight A student can relay in a five million page essay
So judge me for face value
Cuz mo
|
Submission Name: The Salute
