Hush

Son, you’ll rise before the sun breaks its chains And work your father’s yard ‘til fingers strain! You will bow and drop your knee to the ground And soften your roar when grown folk around. Boy, never dare meet my eye when you speak, Be brave out there but in here, you be weak! You must break yourself to my sage command, This is the respect that I must demand! Look at us grown, ‘respectful’, and hunchbacked walking on tight whips that you all done cracked. We’re still bending to our elders’ designs Our heads folded and courage in confines, Our peers push and sway like the sunflower When we have been made to crouch and cower. We are without conviction from their stem For our fathers made us as theirs made them. See us grown, ‘respectful’, and African, We’re Perch in a world of the Pelican. We hide our whimpers and we ground our knee To all folk — be they grown or be they wee