The scars they left us

He reflected on the life he had lived Staring out the window watching his kids with his grandkids They were his greatest gifts He also felt this quiet melancholy of putting them in a position To survive In a world filled with racists He hoped they would outlive him He hoped he would end up in a casket Way before they ever did Flicking through his memories He remembers as a kid Watching his father being killed By the very same people who were supposed to protect them He remembers how that day he had lost his innocence The day he fully understood what being black meant They didn't convict his dad's killer His dad never got justice He remembers the day of his first protest For his father's unjust killing His first chant: No justice, no peace He also sadly remembers The day he tried to rub black of his skin He thought if he turned white he wouldn't end up in a coffin For all these years it was a memory he had kept hidden Even if he had permanent burns that would not leave him He looked back at the window Watching his grandkids playing Looking happy He hoped that what happened to him wouldn't happen to them He had always did affirmations with both his kids and grandkids He had hoped it was enough For them to see Their self worth After a while he joined them in the garden Forgetting about his problem Wanting to enjoy spending time with his family That was until He saw his granddaughters skin With the same burns as him This was his biggest fear This had left him heart broken He looked in her eyes, long gone Her innocence It had left earlier than his She hadn't even reached double digits This world had stole her innocence All because of the colour of her skin This infuriated him He wished he could take her pain and replace it with her lost innocence