Yesterday I diaried my poem
Ode to Michelle O: My Blackness goes before Me.
I had really good feedback and was asked where the book could be bought but it was not published. When I mentioned the piece was not published someone suggested self-publishing. I did my homework all last night and now the book is published.
I have decided to post another poem here (as was suggested) and if anyone is interested you can now purchase the book in hardcover, paperback or even by download by going to these links:
http://www.lulu.com/... hardcover Being Black: being human $32.95 download $5.00
http://www.lulu.com/... paperback Being Black: being human $17.50 download $5.00
Hope you like this one for today and that you will go to the links. Thanx for all the support. Cher
Caribbean Black Isolated in White Suburbia
Caribbean Black
Living in
Isolated in
White Suburbia
My white neighbor
Smiles but not with
Her eyes
Hides to not speak
Offers empty
Support
I accept
Why?
To be accepted
To be liked
To be respected
To be liked
Yet I am
Rejected
Sincere smiles
Conversations
Emotive hand-waves
Handshakes
Saved for
Those
Who look
Look like her
She is safe
Looking further a field
In black
White suburbia
My white neighborhood
Much of the same
White on white
Smiling genuine
With each other
Together
At each other
Walking rosy cheeked babies
In morning dew-filled
Suburban sunlight
But me---
I am
All alone
With my
Black child
On the periphery
Of some silent
Club
Clan
Cult
Alienated
Alone in
My blackness in
White suburbia
From the ghetto
Looking for a better life
A brighter future
For my family
My children
Growing cynical
Feeling weary
Tired
Depressed
Repressed
Don’t want to explain
My dreadlocks
My need for sun block
Thick lips
Pretty
Multi-colored
Hair barrettes
Afro centric apparel
Cobalt blue
Volkswagen
Passat
Just don’t
Don’t want to
Want to explain
I understand you
Try to
To understand me
Holding my pain
Anxiety
Tightly inside
Told to ignore
Internalized
Age-old beliefs
Causing people to
Downcast their
Eyes as I walk by
Clutching handbags
When in
Black male presence
Told to ignore
‘it’
When I see
‘it’
When I feel
‘it’
By
African-American
Brothers and Sisters
Accustomed to
Desensitized from
They already know
‘it’
Will
Never change
White friends
Sympathize
Try to empathize
Try to see My side
But
Unless they
See
‘it’
feel
‘it’
They do not know
‘it’
A Caribbean Black
Living in
Isolated in
Black
In White
White suburbia
My white neighbor smiles
But not
Not with her
With her eyes
Copyright 2008
Buy here:
http://www.lulu.com/...
hardcover Being Black: being human $32.95 download $5.00
http://www.lulu.com/...
paperback Being Black: being human $17.50 download $5.00
Please share links with friends and family to help me get out word. Thanx