Day one.
A BLACK MAN'S ELEGY
I am a being that defines a lot.
My colour, culture regardless of your scorn
will forever be one of a kind.
I can't help but wonder how long it will take
you to have a change of heart.
The good in me you know, why hold on to the bad?
I've been the victim of a lot of ridicule,
my ego has been tainted with vile words
just because of a few cogs in the wheel I exist in.
My qualities have been subjected to reproach
because of a sin I'm yet to fathom out.
Do you know how hard it is to want to live?
In a place where 'the powers that be' only watch
as life drains out of citizens–our hurt brings them satisfaction.
You know nothing of what we are, yet you
show your disgust at every chance you get.
Even you, are not that different from me,
you didn't get to choose the place in which you exist
let alone getting to choose your skin tone.
Same with me and my fellow black folks.
Why then are you filled with unnecessary hate?
Could you even live in a world like mine?
A place I dream of escaping from everyday,
where I'm even scared of sleeping because
I dread waking up to discover myself in the same place
I've always been; a place I didn't ask for.
By now, I guess you know the reason for this elegy,
Your hate is hurting just like the actions of some of my kins
Who are hell bent on driving our nation to an impasse.
But,
please stop being an additional thorn under the soles of my feet
If you can't be the remedy to the already existing ones
because even though I'd like to switch countries
I'm already satisfied with this skin tone that has always been my source of reproach.
©Akinwole John Akintayo
©Yusuf Muyibat Avosuahi
#100daysPoetryCollaboChallenge.