#SpiritOfIndependence

Being the black girl
That's so different
Or
So smart
for a black woman

As if Black is a
Disqualifier for greatness

As if Black means
That I am less inclined
To divine genius

As if being made in the image
And likeness of God
Was not quite designed for me

I am sick of having to
Qualify
And Clarify
And Dignify
And Mollify
And Nullify
Nonsensical commentary
about Karen's
Or Police Brutality
Or the Prison Industrial Complex
Or the Current state and texture
of my curly Mohawk
Or why I have on that wig or this weave

I am sick of
Needing to be better than
the best version of myself
That I just reached yesterday
So I can keep 15 cent in my pocket
And pray I am noticed enough
to not fade into
the sunset of obscurity
In a land filled with
Forgotten poets and
Gone Nowhere Speakers
Authors with articulation difficulties because
All the words from unwritten books
ooze from their brains

I am sick of being sick and
I am sick of a world that doesn't see me
And doesn't respect

Originality

Divinity

Diversity

And the strength I possess

simply because I live in this

Melinated sheath of beautiful brown

In a world set on my destruction



So pardon my disgust and

The indignation

That I pray leaps off this page

And grabs you by both ears

And says look at me

Think on me

Because I need you to know

How Damn Disgusted I feel.

By Queen Canda Atiya

© QueenCandaAtiya

#blackpoets #blackgirlsrock #blackpoetsmatter
#poetsmatter #poetscreate  #artistlife  #womenpoets #poetsociety #black independence