The silence of black innocence

What should be an atmosphere of excitement 
Becomes something more deadly - more violent 
A child's first sound should be heard
Instead silence echoes

Even before life began 
A black baby understands
That in order to survive the world outside 
Their cries should be kept on the inside

How painfully sad 
That before it's existence 
It inherited generational silence 
Ones whispered through the branches of their ancestry 
The unspoken rules that come with the guide of how to survive - 
Being black and alive

There are way scarier things then the dark
Like the clothes on your chair, something innocent 
Becomes dark and twisted
Once the lights are off 
Morphing into shadows
Worse than any nightmare your mind to conjure
If you don't understand this metaphor 
I'm talking about the performative actions of the modern day oppressors 

How messed up 
That we live in a world 
That claims that us black people are the 'monsters'
Yet before our children are even born 
You've forced
Our sons and daughters 
Into a life dictated by silence
Copyright © | Year Posted 2025

Poem

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Book: Diverse Voices: The Poetry of Human Rights and the Pursuit of Peace