Today

Today

Today
a body ruled
~~over mine~~
what I’ve always known

my brown skin
is a guilty verdict
my beauty, my love, my life,
a crime

what about my laughter?
my writings-
my secrets
and desires
all
evidence
against me

my life is unearned
my peace is mis-placed
my achievements and hopes
borrowed and deferred

my voice
is a threat,
my existence –
criminal

how can a single body
outlaw
hundreds of thousands of bodies
criminalize
our hands, our hearts, our gifts?

what’s so guilty
guilt ridden
about my body

shouldn’t the body be
refuge
where we find
humanity
outstretched arms
for the tired, weary
huddled

there is only white
and brown
right and wrong
innocent
and shades of suspicion

They want us to answer
for our brown skin
but
is it a sin
to have my great-grandmother’s
moxie
and my great-grandfather’s
melanin?

so, we wait, we pray, we hope
we fight
for tomorrow
to not be like today