The Black Man’s Reality

Black Man I see you I hear your silent screams As you are Examined and discussed Praised and ridiculed Admired and feared The duality of your existence Must leave you exhausted The intensity of the world's attraction to you creates invisible bars Surrounding you As you are poked and prodded Researched and dismissed Asked to speak and told to hold your peace Stop resisting....stop resisting Stop resisting the urge to take your place To walk in your manhood God forbid you lead your household Oh how the world relishes in the deep blacks, rich coffee browns, and red bone tones of your skin... They chant your name On the basketball court... But in close corners the fan becomes the victim... As adulation turns to provocation... As you are asked to reinvent yourself Into a comfortable ideal Manufactured in a mind your not privy to How weary you must be Navigating these streets The history of your criminalized skin Creating new chapters Each time "they" impregnate themselves With fear, waddling and wading in their Morning sickness Not recognizing they've carried it for nine months and beyond And give birth to still borns each year Fear can not breathe on it's own It needs a host for that.. Sisters who love black men Let's not add to their need to be defensive Listen to their silence and let that be enough I see you Black Man... - Lisa Walker Thomas