Gabz Ciofani

Funk the War 2008, a political sestina


We walk heatedly with clenched fists.
Pushing through intersections
we proudly display our picket signs.
Disregarding our individuality for the greater sake of unity
we create human chains
to barricade ourselves on the streets of DC.

Our voices ring through the streets of DC
together we raise our fists
to protest your war, and using human chains
we enclose our demonstration inside an intersection
and wait as your eyes adjust to our idea of unity
reacting to the words on our picket signs.

Onward we march, raising high the picket signs
stopping traffic on the streets of DC.
As someone clicks 'play', we all dance in unity
in the spirit of change, we raise our clenched fists.
A success at each claimed intersection,
riot police struggling to break our human chains.

They wrap yellow tape around our chains
and reporters photograph our picket signs
the cops fully block off the intersection
while we demonstrate on the streets of DC
responding to the megaphone with raised fists
we show them that democracy looks a lot like unity.

For the greater sake of change, we stand united
willing to be taken by police in chains
but not without a fight- we refuse to lower our fists
or drop our picket signs
because we can be seen out of every window in DC
and they can't clear all of us from this intersection.

We continue to rush inside each intersection
and 20 students bring desks and hold hands in unity
with strength in our numbers on the streets of DC
we stand, surrounding the students in human chains
chanting for this war's end with raised picket signs
not even the pouring rain can stop us from raising our fists.

On the streets of DC, we dance inside intersections
Fists firmly raised for the sake of unity.
Chained to desks we wait, waving our picket signs.



Gabz Ciofani is a junior English major currently attending Kent State university. She writes for Kent State's largest magazine, The Burr, and will be editor-in-chief of Kent State's literary magazine, Luna Negra, this upcoming spring. She wrote this poem upon attending a protest in Washington DC this past April because of the impact the protest had on her. She loves experimenting with different forms in her writing and aspires to be an established poet before she dies.


(author retains copyright)