Image Credits: Isaiah Ireland
Does my silence provoke?
What feelings does it invoke?
Would you prefer that I spoke?
Discomfort contrasts how woke–
You claim to be in a full room
Of nothing but red, white and blue
But when that red turns back on you
Your aggressions will seep through.
You see my silence as a threat,
And your pullback as a safe net.
I don’t behave how you expect?
Expand on that, there’s more to it.
No, no, expand, we’ll place a bet.
Behind your eyes, there’s a mindset
That my dark skin makes you upset
And my demeanor’s hard to ingest.
When you see red, white and blue
The white engulfs most of your view.
But then that red starts to peek through
And you’re quick to call on blue.
Because the blue turns back on me.
See black and blue is what I mean
You call the blue in times of need
I hide from blue and all their greed.
Red white and blue, my enemies
But they’re your friends, it’s what you bleed.
They help with all your dirty deeds
But arrest me for grams of weed.
Don’t ask me to back the blue,
What it means is I back you.
When you bite the hand that feeds
Don’t expect love from hands that bleed.
Jazmyne Morgan is a 4th year Philosophy Major with a minor in Political Science
NABJ Programs Coordinator jm1001692@wcupa.edu