And when I remember how you feel about me
I feel an anger deep inside
My blood is boiling
I feel the anger in my in feet every step I take
As I remember that I am walking on the ground
My ancestors blood and pain built
Just for you to still call it yours
And when I think of you
I think about how you have controlled parts of my life
I have yet to even live
Convinced the entire society
That I am unworthy
And those before me
And certainly after
Hold less worth
Than the dirt under your nails
And when I think of you
I think about how you have shoved most of us
Into cells
Because it is no longer socially acceptable to hang us from trees
But this way you can still watch
And when I think of you
I think of all of those whose blood lay on your hands
I think of the potential children who could have risen to power from our wombs
But never got the chance because your eugenics movement stole motherhood straight from our uterus
And when I think of you
I wonder how one day I will have to explain to my child
That after all this time you still exist
To destroy us
But then I remember I get to teach them
About the power they hold just in their DNA
It’s so powerful
You are terrified of it
-j-
Author: Jasmine Barber
Email: [email protected]
Author Bio: My name is Jasmine Barber, and I am a 20-year-old black poet who lives in Portland, Oregon.
Link to social media or website: Instagram @poetryfromj
