Tuesday, April 16, 2013

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Taken from unpublished work titled "Muse Melodies"

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