By Nadiyah Fisher
The favelas are like dominoes
All the same color but some are more tainted than others
We all fall together
One on top of the other
The closeness is stifling but we cannot help but fall together
Why is my home so replaceable?
Are the inhabitants of any value?
The men in the orange hats point at my windows
I saw what happened next door.
Why does it have to be hosted here?
There are hundreds of countries, but you chose mine.
Mine.
I grew to have a love for the place I was sanctioned into
Why would the gringos want to come to this side of town
They have football, is that not enough?
Futebol too?
I have never been to a stadium. They have one in every state.
You want my scraps too?
The hut they pushed us in.
Where we all look the same as the houses
Where did this money come from?
You’ve built for weeks but your people are suffering
Walk past beggars with their hands out
While you use yours to tear their houses down
Is it a crime?
The PPU does not come to save us any other time.
Why are they here today?
The gringos are coming; that’s why
The land of Fatima, Fado, and Futebol but Fatima wouldn’t approve of this
The displacement of her people
The lack of community
And the myth of harmony
The Lies of a racial democracy
Class used as a blanket over the issue
How can the majority be hidden?
Our history runs deeper than any well
Who do I call when my item is stolen?
Who can get it back for me?
We call but you do not answer our cries
Our cries are like fado to your ears
Our melancholy used for your consumption
Saudade is only a lyric for you
While my longing never stops
You try to control a place that you have never been
My hut needs a makeover now
The gringos are coming
Our living conditions are painted over by Orfeu Negro
Exotic, enticing, and diverse
You attracted the gringos to a place that is not real
Don’t paint the favelas now that the gringos are here
This is not like movies. The travel agencies lied.
não haverá copa!
não haverá copa!
não haverá copa!
But you have earplugs in
While I am bruised with rubber bullets and restrained
Is fighting for shelter a crime?
Is fighting for mine a crime?
Scraps don’t require security
Stop watching me
This is the first time you have done
You turn a blind eye to the crime
But the Copa has your eyes wide
