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W

Word

Apr 21, 2007 ⭐ View statistics (Premium feature)

FUCK IT

I’m standing online waiting to see Santa
And I tell my friend we should see black Santa
And she chuckles and looks and me wit her pretty blue eyes and curly blonde hair and replies : NO
I ask why?
Because Santa is not black.
I’m sitting at a table in pick a bagel
Chit chatting
Or shall I say
Shit chatting with my friends
And my friend lets me know somethings about my culture
1.That if you are named Malaki, Malcom, or Malik by the age of 18 you will be incarcerated living In cell block D
2.If you are a single mom living in projects with a black son the only thing he should ever aspire to be is a , street pharmacist, AKA Drug Dealer, Crack Abuser, OR just six. feet. under.
3.THAT I AM STILL A NIGGER and the 13th amendment never existed.
I’m on the phone at 1 in the morning with my friend while she is in New Orleans with her classmates helping survivors of Katrina
And she is sitting on the phone crying
Crying because she has never seen something so horrific in her life
Not because of the desecration of the state, but the state of mind of her peers
I could feel her pain through the tears
that cascaded down her cheek and stained her mohogany skinface
And I asked:
why are you crying?
And she tells me in her cracked voice
Because (she takes a breath)
Brittney, BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE SO FUCKING RACIST and all I could do was sob, nod
and mumble I know
She told me she was the spokes person
A colored face that could relate
ONE out of FIVE, she was sent to talk to survivors
every single time
They visited a family.
not because she ever experienced a catastrophe but For once she was the majority
and blended in.
And then a girl who looked just like me had the audacity to say that I am not black enough
my skin is not brown enough
And that’s when I said DAMN
AND shit became real
The civil right movement never happened
MLK was never at Birmingham
my lineage to Jessie Jackson was cut off
FUCK EQUALITY
it never existed
FUCK INTERGRATION
its not feasible
Malxom X had every right to Say WE SHOULD GO BACK TO AFRICA
and I lost hope
SO,
take the noose and let me hang on that poplar tree that Billie Holiday talked about
and let me bleed the blood that my ancestry bled because the first time wasnt enough

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Comments

19 years ago

....eh

I don't think it's about more or less or no color, I think it's about assholes that discriminate - period. This is a georgeous write word - very powerful and well done!

W

Word

19 years ago

Thanks Mark

You never fail to leave me a comment and I appreciate it immensely.

W

Word

19 years ago

Thanks

This isn't a profound metaphorical piece. This is mean't to be read out loud hence the caps. Blunt and simple. Why must I ask a profound question or write about why it occurs. Ignorance is the root to racism, what next? Shall I doctor is up a bit and sugar coat it so it will sound prettier? Will that make the poem amazing? I read Langston Hughes poem Harlem and didn't njoy it. A dream deferred is another story though. Thanks peace

W

Word

19 years ago

Hmm...

Some could argue that this poem does provoke and inspire thoughts, questions, answers....It definitely depends on the reader but I must say that it inspires thought, otherwise we wouldn't be having this conversation. Not necessarily about racism more so about poetry in our case. Thanks -brit

19 years ago

Liked Your Poem!

The first six lines grabbed me and would not let me go. Why can't santa be black? Maybe he was of a different race, but he could have been from Africa. To me it does not matter. I wish that there was a way for this issue to be resolved. I liked the brutal honesty of your poem. It made me think and it should do just that. Keep your writing honest as is pertains to you and it will touch lives either in a good way or not. So then the 'nots' do not have to read it! Thank you for this.

W

Word

19 years ago

Ahh.....Im in tears(not really but close enough)

Thanks, I really needed to hear this. Im glad you were able to get something out of it and thats what I wanted. To provoke thought, stimulate an idea, emotion or a revelation. Testify and promote have an epiphany....go wild after reading it. Thanks for the comment I REALLY appreciaate it. YOU SAW MY VISION kudos for you thanks -brit

W

Will Searles Carman

18 years 10 months ago

Fuck it!

I'd love to be able to sit somewhere with you with a cup of coffee or an ice cream cone and just talk. I happen to be white. the word 'happen' is important. I had no choice any more than you did as to your race. Still, if you insist I cannot feel your pain re racial issues I must equally insist to the contrary. I've done a lot of livin' to get to age 80 and seen much you've only read or heard about. Pain has no exclusive territory. Now, for your poem - it WORKS - it does a superb job of announcing your pain - of dealing with the ugliness of racism in all its forms and all its results. I've read it twice but I will be reading it several times again because I believe it offers a depth not readily observed at first glance. A word of caution, however. Please don't allow your pain and your anger to swallow you, diminish you - as a person or as a poet. I hope you explore other forms of writing in addition to poetry. There are calmer waters in your life, too. I look forward to more of your work and hope it will blossom into a much broader scope. You have the capacity to feel strongly - often lacking in others. Reach out, friend, reach out. Experiment. Try new areas, new ideas. See the whole world while looking through your microscope. God bless -

C

18 years 10 months ago

How'd I manage

not to comment this one before? I think this was one of the ones you mentioned to me, too. What can I say? This is one of those "review it as art and you run the risk of shooting yourself in the foot" kind of poems, but here goes: Raw, visceral, painful. This is the most concise, lucid, and coherent statement on this that I have ever, I mean EVER seen. And yes, I can see this is a slammer's poem, it runs fine for that, it has the proper intensity, energy, etc. etc. to make it work brilliantly in the slam. As a side note my best friend was relocated from New Orleans because of Katrina, so I feel an added power because of this. My poems "Puppet," and "False Prophet" chronicle that experience. Brit, seriously, bravo for making this work powerful and disturbing. Mark

W

wellbelove

18 years 9 months ago

No to CAPITALs

Really did not like the title or use of capitals to shout out words - I have rarely used swearing in any poems I have written as in language typically these words are used in the abscence of thought and you can use other words which can express feelings so much clearer. Capitals are also an uncessary way of ordering a reader to read your words in a certain way, and for me a major turn off. I enjoyed the depth and was carried along by the story but found the negativity of the ending, whilst clearly reflecting how someone would feel in the face of prejudice, just didn't go anywhere and left me disapointed wanting something more from this. As a mixed raced man, who faced racism and prejudice from white people for much of my early life, I particularly related to the 'not black enough' which a woman once said to me.

G

Grannyjill

18 years ago

Wow - this is so powerful

I am brand new to Neopoet, so please excuse me. I am a white, middle-class English lady - and you spoke straight to my heart. Racism to me is a cancer in any society, and what gets me is that it is totally illogical! Why should the colour of anyone's skin be an excuse to abuse them? How stupid is that? People are racist because they have the IQ of a garden gnome. (am I allowed to say this?) I've come from answers.yahoo and you get a 'violation' for speaking your mind. My experience of free form poetry is very limited, so I cannot comment on your style except to say it flowed and packed a powerful punch.

18 years ago

Word..

I have not seen this before this morning. I don't think I've seen your name on the board but I've only been here a short time. I hope you are still around. You are talented. you are right..this should be read out loud.. a powerful piece. I am an old white man that has always hated racism.. but everyone feels it at sometime and I think it can and will be changed in the not so distant future... loved the write. Richard