A Poem: Black Man. - 4/16/10

All I want to do is provide for my family.
My work ethic is unquestionable.
There is nothing I won't do, no place I won't go,
No mountain I won't climb, no talent I won't show.
They are my priority.
This should make me a great man, yet I'm mired in inferiority.
My work ethic was used against me,
By a man who was all but unfriendly.
There was nothing I wouldn't do...
I could only sleep from night to the settling of dew.
My days were spent slaving for mere safety
I'd ask for Him to at least save my family, if He couldn't save me.
If I had to dance for an additional ration, so be it;
I cried in the rain to mask the pain, so no one would see it.
I simply did what I had to do to provide.
I am the foundation of my family...


All I want to do is let my light shine.
I come from a lineage of greatness
But I look at myself and say 'I hate this.'
Darker than those with power
One look at me and their children cower
I have talents galore and an expansive mind
I am strong and willful, yet viewed as unrefined.
Everything I innovate seems to be wonderful,
Helpful and avant-garde to say the least
But when I open my mouth,
It's as though 'roar' says 'the beast.'
I need not say but a word to receive a whipping like none other
Even though my words could help the world, including my white brother.
I've led movements and led nations
But now my kind are simple abominations...
Yet we still shine...


All I want to do is follow God.
That was my goal from the beginning.
From pyramids to pilgrimage,
Religion was to be at the heart of my people and I.
Yet, under the guise of religion, we were stolen away,
Sold away, killed away,
Anything to put distance between us.
That's because they'd seen us
Us as a cohesive unit 'under God.'
Such strength was rather odd
So they razed our bonds
And disconnected children from their parents...
Even through screams that would tear the larynx
They continued; their plan was apparent.
With no pillars, our values were to fall
Leaving us to wallow in despair with no hope at all
But our prayers became pillars...


All I want to do is uplift my brethren.
Wherever I may go, my people shall come.
I will not rise without them,
I can only fall without them.
Togetherness is a strength with no limitation
But one can be fooled by prestidigitation
A trick here, a gift there
Appeasement can do many things.
For a man struggling, he'll take what a hand brings.
Give a few one thing, give a few another
At some point, one will wonder why he's not as special as his brother
And as his sister runs off with some affluent mister,
He'll wonder why Lady Luck only kissed her.
But it's no surprise...
Just another veil over your eyes...
The glitter is blinding you
Yet the brotherhood still binds you...

Now let me make this clear.

All I wanted to do was provide for my family.
So I was coerced into doing everything for nothing.
Slaving in fields, watching men get killed,
Crying over a man selling away my loving.

All I wanted to do was let my light shine.
I did, but it was observed and duplicated
My ideas were stolen, sold then, replicated
All while I was left with an empty mind and emptier pockets.

All I wanted to do was follow God.
I hummed his tunes and my voice was heard,
I was paid to jump, dance, and sing the Word
Yet I forgot it was about him and not the money...so I'm left with sin.

All I wanted to do was uplift my brethren.
But I had to snitch on them to get anywhere
I had to give my sisters away as sex toys, which I couldn't bear
By the time I got to the top, the bottom was a divided mess.

My values have been filled with graft
My brothers and sisters are fast-tracked down the wrong path
To save them is to commit suicide
Yet saving yourself separates you from them...could you decide?
Is the choice to much for your mind to bear?
Would it hurt to know that to many, your life is neither here nor there?
Could you stand knowing that helping your own mind
Would only bring dissent from your own kind?
Is it possible, even in the farther corners of your understanding,
To be able to fathom that your future is under planning?
That everything you do or plan to do is subject to the caprice
Of a man whose compassion is emaciated, but whose contempt is obese?
That your people live in obliviousness of their own plight
That they live in blindness to their own light
With not even so much as an inkling of their own rite
Simply because they've become desensitized to wanting more than just alright?

Please, please. Take your time.
Look deeply into your mind.
Try to grasp that as best you can
I've already got it, so powerful is the mind of a Black man.

-A. Lewis