This un-blue blood in darker skin
This youth & manhood trapped within
This youth & manhood trapped within
This un-grown seed beset with doom
This unknown soul locked up, entombed
This unknown soul locked up, entombed
This brown face, this topless bottom
This man-child approaching Sodom
This man-child approaching Sodom
This buried chest of un-cried tears
This proverb unspoken through the years
This proverb unspoken through the years
This dissonant experience
This scent of crime for innocence
This scent of crime for innocence
This shoot-to-kill with both hands up
This birthright linking chains & cuffs
This birthright linking chains & cuffs
This countryʼs witness to its hate
This issue framed without debate
This issue framed without debate
This urban trend & country woe
This poison root we plant & grow
This poison root we plant & grow
This history we cannot bear
This melting pot we cannot share
This melting pot we cannot share
This nightmare that we know is real
This voiceless blackness slaughtered still
This voiceless blackness slaughtered still
(c) from Mother to Son: Poems by Latorial Faison (2017, CK Press)
This poem first appeared at The Watering Hole