Angels made of charcoal outlines (For the little girl who was told she was too dark to be human)
Location
There was a time in this country it was a sin to be black,
when limp bodies dangled like bloated, forbidden fruit
and ‘coon’ was considered a pet name.
Darling of mine, don’t let them scare you
they are afraid of the rumble in your bones,
the universe of brilliance spinning at the tips of your fingers.
When they say things like,
“You’re beautiful…for a black girl”
you see, they are not just colorblind
ignorant that it is your skin cradling their white stars in the sky,
when they try to say you are just a slave’s bastard child
you tell them, no get it right,
my ancestors carried your nation’s root on our backs
with hands rich with soil from the promise land.
Your skin descended from the survival of rape and scorched earth
from all that charred and burnt flesh
we grew flowers and the world anew.
You tell them:
you are no one’s cattle
you are the one who survived
We are the ones who survived and carried on.
Comments
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LIL- BIT
LOVE IT
catrighter
poem
paz.meli95
Reading this is graphically inspiring, your use of words left a mark, you definetly made yourself heard. Don't stop writing!
cbradsh
Vivid imagery. Empowering.
alix93
That gave me chills. Beautiful and powerful. Thank you for sharing that pain and more importantly your triumph.
Sianmaye
I don't have words to tell you how wonderful and good. Your poem is!
NeshaiTalley
Love it. Makes you think.
Nando123
spoke the truth, stay real
buterfli20
really inspiring
Eunoia
I like your metaphors like for the black hole--very clever!
Carina
Extrememly powerful poem,
and very well exucuted.
I admire your brutal honesty,
and how you were not afraid to say what needed to be said.
All in all, you go girl!
RenewMe27
This is beautiful. I love how your mind is allowed to flow into your words with amazing imagery. This should be read to every young black child.
31nsl0w gr3g0
This is loud, and it echos.
I love the title. Beautiful, seriously.
Empowering, and matter-of-factly.
So inspired!
Meow098
It's inspiring, youthful, independent and stedfest. Very well historicly based I might add.
''' (just wondering though why do I keep getting these type of poems)
>>.> Personaly I think it's close to Oscar Wilde though. xD
TrueGeraldine
This is just the kind of messages we need to keep in the public eye. This is amazing thank you for the post.
Realistic1
Great message! Please keep writing poems :)
cam1lla
I am amazed. You captured a glimpse into history so well. Its beautiful. Don't ever stop writing poems!
ebirkey
The beautiful and startling imagery just captured my attention.
lukesnywalker
So strong and moving.
Amazingly vivid.
Dawn Tesha Smith
*Applause* :)
Cianna
*snap *snap *snap that was inspirtaion i can't wait to share ur poem to my fellow peers. I go through so much hearing white people talking bout how black people ain't nonthing and that we stole their last names smh
BlujayEllis
"they are afraid of the rumble in your bones,
the universe of brilliance spinning at the tips of your fingers." Beautifully constructed string of words. It really touched my heart.
avapikul
So beautiful! it sends a really deep message
aminakov4
really wonderful wowowowwww wow
BMB
An engulfing poem! I loved it!
NoReins.
Amen.
livieMarie
"ignorant that's it is your skin cradling their white stars in the sky," lawwd i repeated that line 10 times and i'll repeat it tomorrow and the day after that , and the day after that .
beans.marissa
I love that line, 'my ancestors carried your nation's roor on our backs,' it seems like far to often we forget that part when we're talking about injustice. We remember the harshness of the oppressors but forget the work done by those oppressed.
PBoyce96
In my mind I underestimate the power of words so I'm not only impressed, but I'm actually grateful for you writing something that powerful. Underestimation makes me lazy and I can't afford to be lazy with the scholarships and poems I'll be working on in the next few months so again, thank you.