Racism Unrhymed
It was that night of dark beauty
When I was preparing to inhale my first portion of air.
So joyous I was in the womb of my mother
Her warm abode made feel earth as fair.
But I was unaware.
In Ohio I was born;
And I was born black;
But I was unaware.
I was unaware of my fate.
It got sealed even before my birth.
My skin gave me no room to feel the pleasure of earth.
And I grew up.
And from then a score and more got passed;
They suck my Infant dew with their superior eye.
Friends, neighbor, school, street voiced my inferior existence.
I wondered those why(s).
Day by day I realised all and all.
I was bind with two differ-ropes.
I was twice bound:
First as woman,
then as Black.
With utopian hope I am searching now.
I am searching for a pair blue eyes.
WHITE refers blue eye worthy of respect.
It is my last hope to uplift to equality.
If this is called fair earth,
I wish I can go back to my mother’s warmth, AGAIN.
Women of black community had suffered a lot due to colonial racism. It later led to the arrival of third wave of feminism (Black feminism). This poem is written from the point of view of a black woman.
Inspiration from the Post Colonial African-American writer Toni Morrison’s novel, The Bluest Eyes.
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