Shake The Dust By Anis Mojgani

This is a poem written by Anis Mojgani, a 2nd time National Poetry Slam Champion.

This is for the fat girls 

This is for the little brothers 

For the former prom queen 

And for the milk crate ball players 

This is for the school yard wimps 

And the childhood bullies that tormented them 

Shake the dust.

This is for the benches and the people sitting upon them. 

This is for the bus drivers driving a million broken hymns 

And for the men who have to hold down 3 jobs, 

Simply to hold up their children. 

For the nighttime schoolers 

And for the midnight bike riders trying to fil 

Shake the dust.

For the two year olds who cannot be understood 

because they speak half english and half god 

Shake the dust

For the girl whos brother is going crazy 

For the gym class wall flower 

And for the 12 year olds that are afraid of taking public showers 

For the kid whos always late to class because he forgets the combination to his locker 

For the girl who loves somebody else 

Shake the dust.

This is for the hard men 

Who want love, but know that it wont come 

For the ones who are forgotten 

For the ones whos amendments do not stand up for 

For the ones who are told to speak only when they are spoken to 

And then are never spoken to 

Speak every time you stand 

So that you do not forget yourself 

Never let a moment go by that doesnt remind you 

That your heart beats 100 000 times a day 

And that there enough gallons of blood 

To make everyone of you an ocean

Do not settle for letting these waves settle 

And for the dust to collect in your veins. 

This is for the celibate pedophile who keeps on struggling

For the poetry teachers 

And for the people who go on vacations alone 

For the sweat that drips of a Mick Jagger singing lips 

And for the shaking skirt on Tina Turners shaking hips 

And For the heavens, and for the hells through which Tina has lived

This is for the tired and the dreamers 

And for those familes that will never be like the cleavers 

With perfectly made dinners, and songs like Wally and the beaver 

This is for the bigits 

This is for the sexists 

This is for the killers 

This one is for the big house jail sentenced cats becoming redeemers 

And for the springtime, that somehow always shows up after every single winter 

This is, This is for you.

Make sure that by the time the fisherman returns 

You are gone 

Because just like te days, I burn at both ends 

And everytime I write, everytime I open my eyes 

I am cutting out a part of myself 

Just to give it to you. 

So shake the dust and take me with you do 

For none of this, has ever been for me 

All that pushes and pulls 

And pushes and pulls 

Pushes for you

So grab the world by its clothes pins 

And shake it out again, and again 

And jump on top and take it for a spin 

And when you hop off, shake it again 

For this is yours 

Make my words worth something 

Make this not just another poem that I write 

Make it like its heavy about us all 

And walk into it, breathe it in 

Let it crash through the halls of your arms 

Like the millions of years, of millions of poets 

Coursing like blood 

Pumping and pushing, making you live 

Shaking the dust 

So when the world knocks at your front door 

Clutch the knob tightly, and open on up 

Run forward into its wide spread greeting arms 

With your hands before you 

Your fingertips trembling 

Though they may be