The Skin You are Living In
black lives matter
because often they do not
and your white skin –
will never explain to you
that your colour –
can mean you are treated differently
you do not carry decades old tropes
negative stereotype
your white skin has never meant you swing from a rope
you do not have purposeful negative values –
attached to you
just because of the colour of your skin you live in
you are not judged
before you have even opened your mouth
your white skin and ignorant comments –
do not seem to understand what all this is about
societal and cultural mis-truths
have never hunted you down like prey
and wicked beatings have never come to roost
economic bias,
fights all in and much, much harder
yet, still you continue to question –
whether, black lives matter
it is because, often, they do not
whether it is a knee on the back of a neck
or a bullet too easily shot
this generational bias born through mis-education –
slavery and imperialism
it sees wicked pain and trauma just seep
if you do not understand any of this
then for humanity and the world I truly weep
James Garratt – Tuesday 2nd June 2020
More poems at
https://theboybehindtheglasses.com/
More about this blog, The Boy Behind the Glasses, here
https://theboybehindtheglasses.com/2020/01/08/the-boy-behind-the-glasses-an-introduction/
More poems from 2020 here
https://theboybehindtheglasses.com/category/poems-and-writing-2020/
