Defines not the whole of my being.
Hosts the absence of vitality and worldly beauty.
Yields contrived images of darkness and the unknown.
Fulfills past shadows of forgotten spirits.
Reflects illuminated stars but without deserved glory.
Harbors undo connotations of evil, misfortune, and incompetence.
Safeguards misperceptions as innocent acts of ignorance.
Separates the inferior from the supreme.
Quilts the body of heritage throughout ages gone by.
Yet, defines not the whole of my being.

Is all others are willing to notice.
Is the coat of the wild we deem void of luck.
Is comfort for remaining loved ones as they bid farewell to a lone soul.
Is the hue of God’s word behind the embossed title in majestic gold.
Is shelter above our heads when day succumbs to night.
Is validation for every premature expectation.
Is a distraction from the honest substance of the individual.
Is unity but division in the same instant.
Is shade from the scorching injustices of today’s time.
Therefore, is all others are willing to notice.

Can mark history with everlasting ink.
Can create distance and space when it seems there is none.
Can denote the composition of Earth’s musical canon.
Can fill the pupil of our generation with depth and sight.
Can feed the developing minds of vulnerable youth.
Can nourish the impressionable thoughts of future dwellers.
Can present divisive hindrances to our journey towards becoming one fortified people.
Can perpetuate the inhibitions of society’s progression.
Can shield any mistake with its eternal permanence.
Thus, can mark history with everlasting ink.

Black, the color, represents the culture of a vast human existence.
Black, the color, embodies traditions of determination and perseverance.
Black, the color, bleeds compassion, love, and patience.
Black, the color, reveals wounds of tribulation turned scars of survival.
Black, the color, incites enduring memories of pain and toil.
Black, the color, compels all others to pause in pensive silence.
Black, the color, exemplifies diligence and the refusal to surrender.
Black, the color, epitomizes the meaning of excellence in the daunting face of adversity.
Black, the color, characterizes all things dignified and unique.
However, while Black, the color, is all you see, beyond the surface still lingers me.