Black Woman Who I Am

kespat@aol.com

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Author: kespat@aol.com (Offline Offline)
  • Published: January 29th, 2023 13:16
  • Category: Sociopolitical
  • Views: 5
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