We, As Black People: an elegy
We, as Black People have lost
Lost the war against them
Lost the war against ourselves
Lost the ability to sleep peacefully
Lost the ability to go to Church
We, as Black People have lost
We’re cashed into their ATMS
Reminders on their shelves
Warning us so easily
It could get worse
It keeps getting worse
We, as Black People have lost
thousands of our own
and everyday that number rises
But like Maya, so will I
In memory of the lost, so will I
We talk as if it was like an old fad
like it isn’t seen as “cool” anymore
for them to gather around and watch
that Strange Fruit be plucked
bodies bare to share a warning
that clearly states,
“You’re Not Welcomed Here.”
We talk as if they were just caught
like they were caught at the wrong place
for them to be in the wrong times
that we’re lucky to not be in a time where
bodies were bare to share a warning
that clearly stated,
“You’re Not Welcomed Here.”
Oklahoma
2018
I could go on, but I’m sure you get it.
faint and unclear
but heard.
The ringing that
came from the Rockies
of that state Colorado,
the ringing that
rolled across those curvy slopes
of that state California,
has made its way to Chicago
and slid underneath
the pavements of the suburbs.
So, that I may hear
“Ding Dong,”
rocking me to sleep.
I wake to understand
that it has not gotten louder,
but I still hear it.
Over the years I have gone
to a school with many
who look like me
But skin is where we draw the line of similarity.
Then, I turn and talk with a girl who
doesn’t even share that with me.
And I understand
that I cannot allow that ring
to grow dimmer
thanks to a man, our ears can hear it at all.
Thousands of men walked and stood
As their way of giving an oath
Bare heads and those with hoods
Hours came but they were loath
To leave without making the message clear
Not for attention or fame
Show so that they may hear
The truth is not a game
To take responsibility
To be active
In their community
The sea of men was massive
The president was “busy” that day
Congress was shut down
They had no reason to keep them at bay
Because they respectfully marched with no frown
It reached all the boys and girls
These ‘savages’ did no harm
They glistened like pearls
And showed their black charm
In the end they repeated a pledge
Minister Farrakham was the head
That took away the wedge
and left division dead
The million men with one message
They were one
It’s so weird to be apart of something
You can know so little about
It’s so weird to be apart of something
But wish to get out
Cause sometimes hearing how he couldn’t breathe
Makes my throat swell and close shut
And sometimes my mind wants to do something
But I never know what
I wonder if I could find some way to escape
If one day I woke up and this big thing disappeared
If these weights toppled off my shoulders
Would I become what I had feared?
If these tears had no place anymore
And my heart could go on my sleeve
If I could stand with a real smile
Would I want my past to leave?
Do I want to not have this dose of the pigment melanin
That says so much about me
This color speaks before I do
Would I want them to not see?
I couldn’t imagine
Waking and not being black
I mean I could
But I’d always want to switch back.
Written in 2019
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