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I see life in grey,
Where black does not stand alone without white,
Where the melanin of my skin does not factor as to how society sees me,
Where Mother’s language that rolls from my tongue is never labeled.


The only struggle I should face is between the relationships
I try to mount
...between pen and paper
…between my head and my heart.
Where common sense should trump any and every stereotype,
Where the only thing foreign is the knowledge I am yet to acquire,
Or the journeys I am yet to trudge upon.


Borne of the soil that bears some of the greatest fruits,
I am one of Her many blessings,
An Afrikan princess that is still rising to her majestic throne,
That seeks to reign over a land united
Behind the death of the rainbow;
The rebirth of decolonialism.
And casts all children of the corn of these chains,
Golden bronze bonds
That continue to enslave the people of true liberty, and prosperity.
The liberty that ascertains that no man shall ever be consumed
By their hunger for superiority.

For

I AM because WE ARE!
This is a collaborative effort between myself and @NuBlaccSoul which is to commemorate Human Rights Day (21 March)
 May 2016 Mike Marshall
niamh
For tears that fall
On hollow cheeks
When the weeks feel like years
And the years feel like weeks.

And you sit by a grave
Where the roses grow
But the rose that you seek
Is buried below.

You have my heart
Heavy with sorrow
For the velvet rose
With no tomorrow.
Absolutely over the moon (if a little shocked) to see that this piece made the daily.  Thank you all so much for your comments - I promise to reply to you all individually at some point soon.  It was an extremely emotional, difficult, but ultimately cathartic write. Dedicated to our wee Shane, who we will never forget ***
this poem
is not about you

even though
your spirit is in every word
your voice sounds strong
in the halls of my mind
telling me things
I am now sure
I want to know

this poem is
about me

trying to understand
you
The sea is grumpy
No angry
Foaming
Smashing pebbles
Battering seagulls
Roaring its cold, grey voice at the sky
On the shore I’m small as a pebble
Invisible in the grey wind
Only the rain sees me
The hovering seagull
And the angry waves
 May 2016 Mike Marshall
Polar
One night as I roamed soft about

I chanced upon a tiny shout.

Then when I looked down on the ground

Was careful not to make a sound

In shocked awe my dark adjusted eyes

Saw fairies fight spiders under starlet skies.

Using sticks as spears they attacked their prey

Trapping spiders away from light of day.

As I stared in wonder I heard a voice

"When battle is over, help us rejoice."

It was not a sight I'd want to see

My first instinct was to turn and flee.

Spiders hunt fairies like flies for food,

You see them on webs dried up and chewed.

Fairies hunt spiders for food and skins,

Providing food and clothes for kith and kin.

At long last the fearsome spider lost his fight

And was quickly taken away from my sight.

The fairies took their prize with glee,

"Spiders on the menu for tea."

Almost at once a banquet appeared,

I ate food so sweet my plate was cleared.

With my stomach full, my eyes grew heavy,

And enchanted sleep soon overwhelmed me.

I saw beauty and grace, some horror as well,

As I was held there as if in a spell.

I awoke in a field, with no-one nearby,

And watched as a spider devoured a fly.
If you're ever on the riverside
where the sun beats your head
you would see the old man
selling hats of palm leaf
but you care not to notice him
having already smelled the sea
and too keen to cross the river
travel southward on the island
till the saline wind scalds your eyes
your skins itch to jump into the waves
yet the man with the palm leaf hats
would not cease to tell you
how burning would be the sun on the sands
and so badly you need to protect the head
by parting bucks that mean nothing to you
but a world to the mouths he feeds
and before you stamp on him a final no
she has one atop her hair
beneath which her eyes flutter like butterflies
her sun rouged cheeks untimely blush
and two born anew lovers
merrily head for the sea
having bought romance
for forty bucks.
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