The poems I should've never had to write

The poems that weep with grief The one that bleeds a sadness unnoticed The ones that grieve the erasure of colour I wish I didn't have to write poems To convince you of our pain The one that stains every word on every page The ones that can't bleed out of existence The ones that break and linger I should've never had to write poems so sad But what else must I do to prove to you The mistreatment of my people has always happened And continues to do What is there left to do to stop the cycle of abuse You silence our voices, you mute our words But still I will write, for our stories demand to be heard I should never of had to write poems of self worth To convince you of black beauty When we are the blueprint Why must I need to write To convince you of our light A light that burns brighter than the sun I should never have to write poems of love Where we don't have to struggle Where we are the main characters Why must I convince you that we are not hard to love That we deserve the sun, the moon and the stars That we deserve more than the bare minimum Why must the world make us cry Despise The skin that we live in Why must I convince myself that I deserve love That just because I'm black Doesn't equate to being viewed as good enough Why does it feel like I have to beg for acceptance These are written poetry I should never of had to create The poems lead by strength Filled with the empty fuel of endurance we had no choice to go on without The poems where our hearts are vigorously tested to see if we can make it to the next line Why oh why is our pain a testament to see how much we can take A test to see if we break Because when your black The weight of the world is on your back And any sign that you may crack Is their own permission to attack Why are these poems I have to write Where beneath the ink Is the blood of my hands A sacrifice of demand For the price of being strong I, and others should never of had to write the poems to explain That being black means to always be with pain Not just physical but also psychological Where our existence is put to shame And the grief that comes with the erasure of our names But being black shouldn't mean a life boxed in by strength, yet somehow this is a burden that remains