Revisting Peace

I wish I could say I’ve never experienced violence

But I’ve seen my motherland refuse to give birth to fruit

Because too much innocent blood has poured into her roots

We have learned to make beauty out of blood

Red and burgundy are the only colors we see

No more blue or yellow or green 

Everything bleeds these days

I’ve stopped identifying whose dead body is laying on the earth

And what kind of death they suffered through

Instead I make murals out of their blood

It’s my way of honoring the dead 

Remembering the heroes who never got a memorial

But I am tired of burying dead bodies 

there is no more room in this cemetery

I need to breathe

I want to say I've never experienced violence 

But red and burgundy are the only colors this world bleeds

And I refuse to let it be 

I am painting the sky with blue 

Decorating it with stars of kindness

Embracing diversity and madness

I am planting seeds of love 

so the flowers of beauty can grow again

I am rinsing oppression out of the earth

 baptizing her in fire and water 

I am gathering her children in my arms

Teaching them the song of freedom

Reminding them that it is their battlecry 

And they were born with it

 so as long as they scream it 

Nobody can take it away from them

I wrote this poem specifically for a contest. It was written in under 10 minutes because I was in a hurry. I had procrastinated and the deadline was in a few hours. I did not think I would win-not at all. It wasn’t even in my mind that I would make it in the top 3 because I was young and I had been wriitng for a 1 1/2 tops. I was nowhere near as distinguished as seasoned writers but low and behold I won. Seeing my poem in the anthology changed everything

“But I am tired of burying dead bodies 
there is no more room in this cemetery
I need to breathe”

Last year I painted the world in peace

 last year I painted the sky all the hues of blue

 and to me this was beautiful

 a lot has changed in a year

 I find myself hating the color burgundy and blue and obsidian

 this year I tried to peel my ebony away

 thinking maybe if I peel it all away 

I'll have a chance to stay alive

 if I peel it all  away maybe it won't hurt me 

this ebony has been a burden-can't see any blessings in sight 

this year I've been bruised but I rose

 I've grown 

and I am still whispering apologies to my body

 because of what I did and on behalf of the one

 who tried to carved his hatred and bigotry into me

 thinking he could reduce me into one word

 only to realize that I'm too big and too full 

to be reduced into some derogatory term

I’ve stood in front of this temple

 praying and praying for restoration

 only to realize that this castle-my body- won't rebuild itself

 power and authority I've been given 

so how dare I sit in this debris and in the remains of war and bloodshed

 in this burgundy I washed away last year

 how dare I act like a coward when I was raised a warrior

 I'll pick myself up 

yes I'll do it

 I'll get to the end

 I'll crawl if I have to

 I'll crawl 

I'll claw if I have to

 I'll claw 

I'll do whatever I can do 

victory is calling me 

this resistance begins with myself

I wrote the sequel poem to “I am painting the world in peace” a full year after and there so much going on. I had been having a lot of turmoil about the color of my skin and it was also the time when I had gotten the title of my second book. 30 bucks to the person who figures it out. This is one of the first poems I wrote for my 2nd book.

“ last year I painted the sky all the hues of blue...
this year I tried to peel my ebony away”