THE STORY OF A MAN
A MAN, A BLACK MAN
“Stand in the corner,” You say
With your eyes shut,
Your mouth closed
Your ears plugged
Just stand in the corner
You are not a man
You are a prop
This is what you say to me
This is what you think of me
Is it fear of the Black man?
It is fear of the Black man
Nothing more
But I am a man
I am a Black man
I am the world you live in
You cannot deny me
You cannot kill me
Or Neuter me
You cannot deny my history
It is your history too
And history is history
Unchanged and unchanging
It’s about life itself
You did not begin today
Or will not tomorrow
You began yesterday
And you live today
What fool denies their history
Throw away their forefathers and their foremothers
As if they never existed
Is this you?
I will move as I please
From the light to the shadows
And back again
As I so, please
You will not deny me this
Because I am a man
I am a Black man
A philosopher
A scientist
A teacher
An adventurer
And so much more
You cannot deny me this!
THEY JUST KILLED ME
They killed me in Tulsa
They killed me in Georgia
They killed me in Charlottesville
They killed me in Minnesota
They killed me in Louisiana
They killed me in Texas
In Florida
In New York
In New Jersey
In Ohio
In California
In my home
In the street
At work
At play
Just about everywhere they found me
They killed with me impunity
Because they were told that it was okay
And they haven’t stopped killing me
And I have no recourse but to kill them back.
-Paul M Alleyne, 05/25/2021
THE BONES
The bones, the bones
Neckbones, elbow bones, ankle bones
Bones from the ribs of many, many people
Men, women, and children
Murdered, or wounded and left to die
Death from a war waged by men
Because of disputes of all kinds
Disputes that are angry, selfish, unreasonable, unnecessary
Useless wars where no one wins
Just people dying and suffering in great pain
Hunger everywhere
And bonus, and bones and bones
From the millions and millions of those robbed of their lives
THE MEASURE OF A MAN
What is the measure of a man?
It is not his wealth
His physical strength
His good looks
His career
It is his person
His humility
His empathy
His dismissal of the status quo
His embracement of change
His spirituality
His creativity
His reaching out to those around him
Who needs his counsel and his guidance
His warm embrace and his friendship
This is the measure of a man who is worthy of life’s enormous beauty
THEY DENY US
In this US of A
They deny enslaving us for 400 years
They deny raping us
Hanging us for their enjoyment
They deny our humanity
They deny our history
Our stories
Our need to breathe
Our call for justice
Despite the many contributions we have made
As they enrich themselves from our labor
Even the 40 acres and a mule were denied
But we must move forward
Build our own
In our own space
In our own time
To help our next generation survive
NEW BROWN SHOES
These are my new brown shoes
They are leather
Good dark leather
Smooth and shiny
I have had them for over 30 years
A gift from my lover
I wear them often
Almost every day
And I think of her whenever I do
The comfort of these shoes reminds me of her
Soft, warm, caring, and full of energy
She keeps me excited
Just like these new brown shoes.
They are not new now
But they have been worn well
Well cared for
Polished and shined every day
Even on Sundays
I wear them with affection
And the endearment of my lover
Mobile Notary/Signing Agent & Fingerprinting
2 年Powerful writing! It’s chock full of punches to the gut of traumatic truth. As a black woman I’m suffering through it with you. Peace and Blessings??