King
“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever
you do, you have to keep moving forward.”
~Martin Luther King Jr.
Let them
break our legs,
bash our heads,
but as swiftly as we fell,
we’ll rise.
Let them
shoot us in the back and
watch the blood seep into the ground,
but, as long as they keep firing,
we’ll keep moving.
Let them strip us
of our bronze skin,
down to the blood and bones
we share,
but we’ll show them the power
embedded in our minds because
You can’t break the wings
of a bird and expect it not to sing.
You can’t shoot the king and
cower at the presence of his army.
You get the riots and the rebellions,
the unrest and the uproar,
because you can’t kill the king
when he lives in all of us.
project
i am a girl.
i am not a toy to be broken,
or a game to be played,
nor am i am a token
to be bought in an arcade.
i am not a record to be spun
or a glass doll to be cracked,
nor am i a trophy to be won
or a puppet in their act.
he is a boy.
he is not another name
that can simply be replaced.
he is not the one to blame
when hard times are faced.
he is not another dead boy
done by the works of the police
he is not another decoy
or departing symbol of peace.
we are black.
we aren’t their project
or a charity case to relieve their guilt
we aren’t something to neglect
or a garden to watch wilt.
we can’t be sprayed with cheap paint
or drenched in fake glitter,
we aren’t a canvas for them to taint
or a dummy to pull the trigger.
we shine on our own,
no need for store-bought supplies,
i mean, look at how much we’ve grown
we don’t need that fake glitter and trophies
we are our own prize.
