Blackness : A Praise Song
To be spun from wires so delicate
Forged in fire so elegant
Skin like decadent dessert
On other days, like grimy dirt
That covers the earth
like blanket :
My blackness...
Is a memorial of
those who fell before me
A celebration of those yet to be
My blackness is a race, an elite team
Of athletic grace,
in which I get placed
Simply that I participate.
It's a language too, not every nod means I agree with you
Sometimes I shake my head in admiration
Oh and how we dance,
almost absently,
like we're unaware we're doing it
Tap a rhythm with our feet,
grind a beat with our teeth
Shoulders thrown back,
And shimmy shimmy shimmy
Swagger and sway our hips
just walking down the street.
It's a weapon too, for those intimidated
by our differences
In these instances we're expected to shrink to digestible size
And for our boldness apologize
For to be black and unapologetic
Are two offences at once.
We are like people of the sun, who know no shade
But despair not when it finally sets
For we howl at the moon too...
And what have you to be afraid of
When the night looks like you?
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