I can stay and die
or I can try to go where angry folk don’t want me
Death, or raging pink faces
is a choice of sorts,
but still no place, no home
So, beheading, or maybe hanging,
lynched by dragging,
or if lucky, shot alone,
versus locking up in a green walled facility,
****** as it may be,
until someone takes a moment to judge me safe,
is luxury
Or maybe I’ll be deported,
doomed,
I struggle to see your view against me
As a young brown man I know I’m done,
I might have a degree in medicine
or years of fixing cars or houses, horses,
understand trade or charity
It won’t matter
when my photofit
reminds you of another brown man
who blew himself up or lashed out with a knife,
for a misread life and afterlife
A few white lives will always tip the scale
where hundreds,
thousands,
millions of ours,
despite your fears
will not prevail
Aug 11, 2020
Aug 11, 2020 at 3:14 PM UTC
I can stay and die
or I can try to go where angry folk don’t want me
Death, or raging pink faces
is a choice of sorts,
but still no place, no home
So, beheading, or maybe hanging,
lynched by dragging,
or if lucky, shot alone,
versus locking up in a green walled facility,
****** as it may be,
until someone takes a moment to judge me safe,
is luxury
Or maybe I’ll be deported,
doomed,
I struggle to see your view against me
As a young brown man I know I’m done,
I might have a degree in medicine
or years of fixing cars or houses, horses,
understand trade or charity
It won’t matter
when my photofit
reminds you of another brown man
who blew himself up or lashed out with a knife,
for a misread life and afterlife
A few white lives will always tip the scale
where hundreds,
thousands,
millions of ours,
despite your fears
will not prevail
Request permission to use this poem