A memory told completely in poetic verse.
Image source: Pexels Powerlessness
your voice
silenced,
wrecked
gutted
hunched body
numb body
utter absence of any feeling
creeps up your spine
like an army of spiders.
A white workspace
under
a spotlight,
everybody
breathing
down your neck,
suffocating,
people sitting
on a chair
formulating
a circle
around your workplace
looking at your face
your dark skin
entranced
as if
frozen in copra hypnosis,
the gazes
the whispers
the 'imposter syndrome' feeling
slices
your dark skin off,
tiptoeing around
walking on eggshells,
others
working toward the sunlight
progressing
you
walking with shackles
around your feet,
chilly atmosphere
awkwardness
like a fog looming over an entire city,
raising your hand
with pain in your throat
breathing slowly
trying
to speak your mind
with a mild tone
without anger
without rage
even then
'you're so angry'
not just angry
but also
overreacting
hypersensitive
rude
and aggressive,
you
doubt
your own experience
your own feelings.
White beauty standards
appropriating
tailoring
deciding
who
and what
is beautiful,
if
you ditch
these standards
sneering
mocking
insulting
every black woman,
each insult
is like
a black hole
opening up beneath you
and falling right through,
each sneering
comes with
another falling sensation.
Your head bows
moaning aloud,
the color of your skin
the texture of your hair
your ethnicity
shoved
into a box.
A broken black woman
curling on the bed
fetal position
like you've been walking
in the desert
for weeks
and weeks
your body
could sleep
for years.
No comments:
Post a Comment