Black Woman Who I Am

Blaze of white against sky of blue

Imitating stationary clouds

Golden light piercing rounded wood

Leaching away its nature

A nature bred upon the plains of a misunderstood continent

The grasses of which are fed upon by the wild underlings of a starched oligarchy

Drums beat against the fetid air

Bringing a rush of wind

That lifts a flock of birds

Upon a wave of dissension

The screams of laboring women and squalling babies

Reminds us that this is a land of people

Not merely feral beings

Your money is of little use here

It is thrown into a smoldering fire

To join the ghosts of unappreciated generations

No more can be done here

For it is a continent of a splintered people

Part II

You walk the back streets of a crippled nation

The flag of your fellow countrymen draped across your shoulders

You kneel upon the ground

Dipping an edge into a puddle of water

And use it to wipe the dust from your face

You've been this way before

You're sure of it

You can feel the remembered loneliness

As unfamiliar shoulders press against you

You're all going to the same place

Even though no one knows where that is

You walk on

Part III

You ask who I am

Do you really want to know?

Do your really care?

Will you be able to handle the answer?

I don't think you will

When I scream you can't hear me

When I talk black you don't understand me

When I speak white you think you know me

Maybe if I speak softly you will understand

What you don't get is

    I don't need you to understand

    I don't even want you to

Who I am is who I am

And that's all you need to know