With school beginning again I thought I’d share a poem I wrote as a call to and critique of my alma mater Harding University. If you attended around the time I did you were likely familiar with the tradition I’m referencing in this poem. For those who are not as familiar with the bastion of conservative christianity standing in the conservative tradition of the Churches of Christ which is Harding University, you should know we had mandatory chapel services every weekday morning. During the very first chapel assembly of the year Dr. David Burks (the President at the time) opened the year by asking the freshmen who could spell “camaraderie.” Then, he would go on to give a speech about the Harding legacy and community expectations. There is so much more context I could share about this poem, but I will leave you with the stated essentials and let the rest of the poem speak for itself.
Camaraderie was the plea When I was eighteen We had to spell it C-A-M-A-R-A-D-E-R-I-E Camaraderie A call to fellowship Commonality A sense of togetherness Community A spirit of friendship Camaraderie We were to see one another As companions Working toward a common good Laborers in the field A union under our Lord Comrades In camaraderie * * * I remember like yesterday I didn’t get it until today Comrade Come with me Together we can make a way The call came out of context Or buried deep within Where I was Where we were Growth Gain Goods We were Capitol Currency A product of exchange In the belly of the market Came a rumble of reality Misunderstood Misused Manipulated Market-ized A call for camaraderie A confused camaraderie of competition Compete for members Compete for meaning Compete for contributions Compete for currency Compete for recognition Compete for righteousness Compete for spirit Compete for souls Compete to consume Sorry, I mean conserve values “Friendly” competitors Not neighbors meeting needs Comrade, can you see? Are you with me? Don’t spell it to abuse it Be a comrade, use it Camaraderie Rather than coercion Camaraderie Instead of competition Were you there? Did you hear the plea? Did you think it lame like me? Did it seem hollow, without meaning Having to spell a word severed from its meaning? Being sold fellowship Sold friendship Sold faith I remember like yesterday I didn’t understand till today * * * The king B came back when sales dipped A bloated bison won’t fast There’s no sabbath in sales Even with an enormous stash Prophets get spit out by whales Because they cause profits to dip. When the truth comes out they’re thrown in a pit But one rose to tell the king Of the conflict destroying the dynasty Consuming the people he leads Still, there’s no jubilee Among those sold camaraderie as a bit We could have learned to spell it for free C-A-M-A-R-A-D-E-R-I-E But we were told we needed the degree To make enough money To have a home, to eat We believed Now we need a year of jubilee. The voices cry out crushed by the alter Drowning in baptismal water Consumed by the hierarchy of the market Though plague destroyed a third of it I’ve received No camaraderie From the powers that B Having once proclaimed a unity From his stage broader than he could see So I sit on the blacklist of ashes a burned commodity That day I was rebuked by king B himself Yet, called brother by an unexpected someone else. I spelled it out differently Reaching past his understanding Or, lack there of camaraderie He graduated with me He went to a life of ease retired and free While I went to work endlessly We worked on We moved on But he came back When his predecessor got the sack Because profits won’t be left to rest So, prophets receive no rest Comrade, how will you spell it? Commodity? Or camaraderie? * * * The equality Of camaraderie Leads to a better way Beckons in a better place Where solidarity Inspires inclusion Care and compassion Counters condescension Creating communion As students who “had everything in common” Sharing the sense of camaraderie Comrades with common need of each other So that we commune In active hope for the new The world made anew By the revolution that rings in reconciliation With leaves that heal the nations Equally In camaraderie