Thought I’d switch things up and share one of my poems.
Enjoy!
A CONFLICT OF INTEREST (SPOKEN WORD)
My phenomenal woman
Is white
This is my struggle
You see, I love my black
My black is perfect
My black is beautiful
My black is lovely
I love my black in ways I can’t fully describe
In ways, I can’t fully define
It’s just in me
It’s the middle passage and Jay Z
It’s lynching and lace fronts
It’s cotton fields and Countee Cullen
It’s Sasha and Maliya
I breathe in this culture that runs through my veins
Darkens my skin and colors my consciousness
My pride
I recite Ms. Angelou in my sleep
Mr. Baldwin in my wake
Eleven years natural – Second set of locks
HBCU attended, Slim Shady offended
Color Purple reciting, Strange fruit biting
Kool-Aid mixing, Cornbread frying
Tyler Perry quoting, Segregation dying
I LOVE my black
But
She
She is the Scarlett to my Mammy
The Barbie to my Aunt Jemima
The blonde to my nappy
Porcelain skin
White
As the freshly fallen snow
So soft, so pure, so delicate
So…beautiful?
Make no mistake
She is that “European Standard of Beauty”
Lye burns scalps to
Imitate her
Thick thighs and curvy hips whittle down to
Emulate her
My heart beats fast to
Penetrate her
Obama-loving, red Mustang driving
Star Wars geeking, indie record buying
Horseback riding, liberally-biased
Latte-sipping, American Eagle trying
Colbert reporting, parental defying
Caucasian
In every sense of the word
What would Malcolm say?
But…then…she…
Smiles, while running curious fingers through my locs
And cries when “Celie finally leaves Mister”
And when she takes in the expanse of my hips with blue eyes
I can read her mind because desire –
It has no color, it has no censor
She explains to me the ways of the Jedi and
How Han shot first would have to suffice
Because over collard greens and chai lattes she told me how Salvador
Not only changed her views
He saved her life
