Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Being Black: being human


Being Black

being human

Being black

What does it mean?
Does it mean being poor? Uneducated? Unsophisticated?
Being black?
Does it mean being second best?
Well in my insecurity, within my sphere
It meant all these things. But why?
How was I made to feel this way?
I’ve come to the realization that
Feeling this way was not self-imposed
No Way!
Being black to me meant, being on the bottom rung
Always hoping,only wishing
So I pretended to be colorless
To live in a bubble and I was secure
But security and insecurity have no shape
No color. No size
Formless. Colorless
Just emotion. Just feeling
Now I know I am somebody
I am someone
I am black.
Wouldn’t it have been a shame if I had died?
Colorless?

Taken from unpublished work titled "Muse Melodies"

My Blackness Goes Before Me


My blackness goes before me  

A steady anger burns within me
Welling up from deep. Deep inside 
Three-fifths of a human being
The sacred constitution of theRed, white and blue
 Walking into a room. My blackness goes
My blackness goes
Goes before me 
Those of the majority. Not all
Not few.  But many
Still do not see. See me as human woman
 OnlyBlack. Not as mother
Of a beautiful almond eyed Sepia skinned
Baby girl
Not as graduate of Ivy league: as wife
As I, As Me 
Someone whose life is Just as significant
Meaningful. Purposeful. Beautiful
 Three-fifths of a human being
The sacred
Sacred constitution of the
The red, white, Red, white and blue
Not removed still written inIndelible ink
To be read, perused
Overlooked, excused, invoked 
When I walk in: into a room robed in 
---my blackness precedes me
You see not I, not mother
Not woman, not wife
Just Black
Nothing has changed
So many things locked in 
Racist, classist, sexist
Passive aggressiveness
Intellectual sarcasm, impoverished ignorance
Blatant Alienation. Little has changed
 I am black and living next door
Behind the same white picket fence
Enduring bleached smiles but not with eyes 
A steady anger. Righteous
Burns within me
Welling up from deep. Deep inside 
Three-fifths of a human being
The sacred constitution of the red, white, and blue
Blackness walking: walking into
Into the room before me. They don’t see me.

(published at rhrealitycheck.org and racetalk)

Taken from unpublished work titled "Muse Melodies"

Caribbean black living in white suburbia


Caribbean black living in white suburbia

Caribbean black isolated
in
Living isolated 
in 
In white suburbia,

My white neighbor smiles
But not with her eyes
Hides so as not to speak;
 I accept
Why?
To be accepted,
To be liked
To be respected
To be liked?

Yet I am rejected,

Sincere smiles, conversations,

Emotive hand-waves saved for
Those who look

Like her
she is safe
Looking further a field

In white suburbia,

My neighborhood much of

The same
White on white smiling genuine

Together

While rosy cheeked babies

In dew-filled suburban sunlight walk by
But me —
 I am
Alone
With my black child
On the periphery
Of some silent club, clan

Cult, alienated, clothed in my blackness

In white suburbia

Looking for a better life, a brighter
Future for my family,

Growing cynical feeling weary,

Tired, depressed, repressed

Don’t want to explain

My dreadlocks,
My thick lips, multi-colored hair
 barrettes, afro-centric apparel,

Cobalt blue Volkswagen Passat

Just don’t
Want to explain
I understand you , try to
Understand me
Holding my pain

Told to ignore

Internalized age-old beliefs, 
as I cause

People to downcast their eyes

As I walk by, people who clutch handbags when in

Black male presence
Told to ignore ‘It’ when I see
‘It’ when I feel
‘It’
My African-American

Brothers 
---and Sisters

Accustomed to,

Desensitized from
They already know
‘It’

Will never change
White friends sympathize

Try to empathize

Try to see my side

But unless they 
Feel ‘it’

They can not know

A Caribbean Black

Living isolated in 
In white 
White suburbia
My white neighbor smiles

But not

Not with

With her eyes



Taken from unpublished work titled "Muse Melodies"


Imagine


********
Imagine
Imagine you, just a big eye in the sky
Looking down upon earth's plains
Valleys and mountain ranges;
Earth's people
Tell me, what would you see?

You'd see a world gone awry,
A world gone mad
People fanatically living in a superficial era
Lost but not knowing it,
Confused but not know why.

You'd see hardly any trees just a blanket of smog,
Of grime, dirt and dust,
Joseph's coat blackened by
 Neglect and disregard.

As a big eye in the sky you'd see
Buildings thrusting heavenwards
Sore-thumbs covered in band-aids
Hunger, depravation, deceit and conceit

What can we do to make a change?
How can we find the peace and tranquility
We so desperately seek and need?
The source is within us all

We must turn within and explore our inner beings
Things can change if only each of us
Would take the responsibility
To care for our individual plots in life

So as a big eye in the sky, tell me, what do you see?
Is there hope for us?
Or are we lost?
Totally doomed.

No!!!

I believe
---believe in
in humanity and that
There is a chance if only we look
Look within.



Taken from unpublished work titled "Muse Melodies"

Renewal


Renewal
********
From Today I rise
From my suspended place
In space now cold, alone
 But
 Not for long
To long floating high
Imprisoned on my lonely isle
High, high in the sky
Surrounded by a sea of fire
Until now unable to leave
Centered, trapped in the middle
No life, no trees, no birds
Just me---an island
Burning; A mere shadow surrounded by heat
Smoke filled environs
Endlessly, tirelessly
No noise. No peace. No light
Only darkness opaque and heavy
Heated tears flowing
But from today: today I rise
No more walking to the edge of
Hot blackened sands with bloodied
Scared feet
Trying too many times only to fail
To leave
 Bound by immovable forces
No more
Today I rise.  I rise
I stand walking naked unaided across beds
Beds of fire
Feet now hardened prepared
To lunge, to Fly, to leap
Like a black bird once broken
 With new wings unfurled
Created from chaos and despair
From today I stand resurrected
I have risen purposeful---determined
With Renewed vision and energy
A clear destination ahead
Through the fires
Through the embers
Through the blue I move unencumbered
Brilliant light as far as my eyes can see
Drizzling then dappling. I can reach. It is not far.



Taken from unpublished work titled "Muse Melodies"

I Reclaim


I Reclaim
I stand here now to reclaim
Reclaim my life, my hopes,
 ---loves
My voice. I stand here.
Newly born in metaphorical skin
Once lost not yet fully found but close
I stand here to reclaim
To reclaim my life fully and forcefully
No longer fretful about the past
Rooted. Set firmly in the present
Resolved. I move forward and onward
To a better place
Long embedded but not recognized
Or acknowledged
 Until now
No longer will I mourn
No longer will I regret
No longer will I feel bereavement for
Those things I cannot change
Past mistakes, misconceptions
Failures and shame
I cannot
Memories that pain or bleed
Past missteps
But today and now, yes now
I can change me
So I reclaim all of me
Broken, bitter, resentful, angry
Good, bad and indifferent
I reclaim
I embrace my family newly minted
Family of birth long gone
No power to erase the loses
Death has entered and left me forlorn
Anger drained me of much needed
--- life force
I ask forgiveness
Forgiveness for things I did not understand
From my parents my elders
Ancestors
Those left behind
---hurt in my path
I reclaim
My wholeness, my brokenness
No more am I what is behind
Light has replaced that which was once
Dark
Still standing
Head held high I move into
New light
Chin up, shoulders square
Back supple
Ready to rise up to take
Responsibility
For a new generation
A new day
I reclaim
Injustice will no longer keep me chained
I unfetter my spirit willingly from karmic bonds
Forged in steel through the ethers
To dwell in this cleansed vessel
I accept a redefined mission
And purpose
Reclaimed
I am home



Taken from unpublished work titled "Muse Melodies"

Muse Returned


Muse Returned
Gone
You were gone for so long
Now you have returned like a prodigal daughter
---but not unwashed
Suddenly there you were
I felt you re-enter
Starring through my mortal eyes
A sublime moment
My hand reached for pen and paper
As you spoke
Spidery words all in haste
Spilling from my fingers frozen from fear
And angst for far too long
There you were
Flowing and toppling fourth
Through aged enameled tips
Unabashed, untamed, unencumbered
Just like old times
Now you’re here I hope you’ll stay
‘Cause all is lost without you
There is a vacuum
A space
In your place
Emptiness in the stillness
And unaware am I
Until you come back






Taken from unpublished work titled "Muse Melodies"