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The cold hand

She just wanted help drowning Everytime she tried speaking It felt like a cold hand gripping her throat It felt like racism breathing silence in her mouth To other It looked like she had been saved But she knew she had been condemned To a life without freedom She couldn't pretend She didn't want her life to end She wanted an out And maybe the cold hand could help

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Danny Derden

Date: 6/21/2025 11:38:00 AM

Powerful and unflinching, this poem captures the suffocating weight of voicelessness, systemic oppression, and internal despair. Its stark honesty and visceral imagery—“racism breathing silence”—cut deep, exposing a reality often hidden. There’s raw pain here, but also truth, and in that truth, a call to listen, to witness, and to never turn away.

Layla Riley-Hill
Date: 6/21/2025 11:47:00 AM

Thank you that means a lot.

Ryan Geoffrey-Hayward

Date: 6/14/2025 4:39:00 AM

I really love the expression of such cold pain. There's no hope or opportunism here but there's still a beauty to your words like something is still hanging on.....

Layla Riley-Hill
Date: 6/14/2025 11:44:00 AM

Thank you that is really kind