The Poetry Marathon

I pretend that fireflies

Come around to remind me

That there’s more than one light

That the mask I wear everyday

Isn’t the sign of

Something nefarious

Instead I add some words

To the strange adage

The truth shall set you free

I add: Maybe if they don’t kill you

Right away

And as I hurriedly walk past

My eyes lowered

My breath quick

I think not of the treeline

With strange fruit

Hanging like apples

I prefer to think

That fireflies are coming

In the heat

To make me think

We’re safe

I exist.

Here in the city

Where big shoulders

Tower

But sometimes I cower

At the sight of blue and red lights

The color of freedom

Hypocrisy

I exist

And sometimes my skin’s

A challenge

To an authority

Their eyes watching me

I exist

Yes I do,

I’ve got a better chance of dying

From a bullet than you

I exist

And that’s just it

I’m here

And my spirit won’t

Quit

I exist

Do your worst

I whisper it

Those ideas get us killed

Even keeping your head down

Isn’t a guarantee

I exist

And sometimes

I wonder why we’re

Brown

I exist

And that’s ok

I think as long as I

Stand out of the way

There’s a language

Unbeknownst to me that

Allows people to take

Less than acceptable ownership

Of their role in a society

That doesn’t value a growing

Populace

Make America Great Again

Roughly translates

Make America White Again

This viewpoint

Does not shock

Nor does it amaze

It is simply and distinctively

Interwoven into the country’s

DNA

Lynchings

Beatings

Murders

DNA

And yet people

Seem desperate to prove otherwise

DNA

Soft breeze

Cooled water

The sip of citrus

A friend’s roaring laughter

The click of the joystick beneath my thumb

As the sunsets

A game night

If I remember nothing else

About childhood it’s what happens

After my bedtime

The idea that I missed out

On some unknown world

Frustrated me

Now of course I count

The restless hours

I do sleep

And laugh

So long a child’s curiosity

We pack the car

Sandwiches and all

I wave to my house

Before day fall

Every once in awhile

The littlest one wakes up

From a bump under the backseat

Tire

We only made 10 stops that day

4 bathroom breaks

3 to fill up the tank

2 to stretch our legs

And 1 by cops asking where we were

Headed

It takes 25 hours

And too many Disney movies

To see a hole in the ground

My tight coiled hair fills the frame

Of an otherwise short existence

They tell me “heat. Add heat”

To straighten and elongate

What’s more they say it’s not enough

And so I add extra chemicals that burn

 

Good hair Bad hair White hair Black heir

 

The rain and humidity aggravates

My efforts to fit in to this tight box

My hair begins to shrivel

Outsiders laugh and gawk

Asking to touch what is not theirs

They think me eccentric

 

Good hair Bad hair White hair Black heir

 

All the posters all around straighten out

Can’t get me down

I take my tight coiled hair to shake

I watch it puff and expand and

Rightfully take command.

It’s natural. Treat it so. 100% mine

 

Good hair Bad hair White hair Black heir

A reading nook

A Long book

Chill background music

A warm blanket

3 to 5 pillows

A rainy day (optional)

Cozy pet (optional)

Prepare reading nook. Add a warm blanket to get acclimated. Gradually place 3 to 5 pillows to your liking. Mix in chill background music throughout. If it suits you sprinkle in some rain and a pet to keep you company.

Enjoy.

Investing the creative

Determination to fully

Extract the necessary

Actions accordingly

So the time has come to write like we’re running out of time 🙃. Don’t ban me for my Hamilton references! I’m Jade writing from Chicago. This is my 3 or 4 marathron and I’m I’m excited. It’s great to be back and I wishing everyone a safe and hopefully relaxed success marathon.