STILLness like BLACKness
this beautiful image
of mine, yet
i feel like
i am dying
and with each
day it seems
my lifeline is
only good for
the headline of
another hate crime,
and i know
my soul runs
deep like my
ancestors that ran
before me, but
we are beyond
a hundred miles
and running, and
still i find
my face pressed
upon the hatred
of the very
ground i walk
on, and with
the crack of
dawn comes another
crack in my
skull, another crack
in the wall
of protection that
doesn't protect us,
and with each
gun shot i
am filled with,
i am filled
with the tears
of a past,
present, and future
that hates us
all, emasculates the
very essence of
who i am
without probable cause,
and still, i
am black.
-e.