Laughably simple
perfectly suited
beautifully contradictory
deliciously divine

Sleeping populace stripped of humanity and love
isolated from that which it once knew as truth
saturated with insatiable dissatisfaction and greed
add an illusion of power
and the perception of difference
segregate, integrate, re-segregate
mix
stir
blend
shake
drizzle with empty verbiage
Diversity! Equality! Multiculturalism!
To hide the bitter taste
What once went down so smooth
increasingly unbearable to take

Picture Day

It was an incident with my hair that set things in motion
Until then, perfectly content with my role,
the only Black girl in an all White school.
Ever careful to minimize my difference;
comfortable nonetheless
Picture Day came
Hair meticulously styled
by my mother's loving hands
I entered the class with confidence
bouncing braids bumping against my head
I. WAS. FLY.
Or so I believed.
A hurtful remark from a peer
cosigned by a teacher who suggested
I smooth it down
'cuz my mother couldn't possibly
have intended it to look like that
eagerly attempting to assist me
move hair out of my face so I
could “really be seen”
...as if I could possibly hide
It Broke Me
As an act of self preservation I blurted out
"I HATE MY HAIR ANYWAY"
words escaped from quivering lips
I felt my mother's heart break
and a shame that I still can't seem to shake...

Abstract concepts elude my understanding
as I try to grasp their meaning
they slip through my fingers
haunt me at night
only fleeting memories remind of their existence at day
not yet able to integrate into conscious thought
but ever present
biding the time to break free

I have this dream where I'm on some sort of treasure hunt
through the attic of my mother's house
complete with clues, x marks the spots, and trap doors
I woke up before I made it to the end
but I have a sense of such familiarity
that I've already
been there
seen what it is I'm after

Diseased

Resentment spreads through this family like a disease
infecting all that it touches
all are convinced that they have suffered the most egregious of slights
not realizing that the original strain predates them all
unwilling/unable to let go
unwilling/unable to break the cycle
sacred relationships tainted
family no longer a tie that binds
wish I could break free
terrified that I
might. Just. succeed
love them so hard it hurts
but hate, so intensely it scares me
What do I do?
Spirit help me find the antidote

time, energy, and emotional well being expended
trying to violently force the seemingly unrelated experiences into
something coherent and desirable, unnatural
when at last I released and regained control
the picture began to emerge
and the isolated pieces of the puzzle
fell into perfect positioning