What Is Life
Surrounded,
Trapped in
Taken out of my home land
Brought into a new place
8000 miles of scared
8000 miles from freedom
8000 miles of bars,
That encloses me
Nothing but walls and darkness
So, what is life, other than a cage for me?
I feel as though I am a gift,
Wrapped up,
Made in Africa
Shipped from the motherland
Thrown, broken and given away
Shred from my knowledge
Brainwashed by my owner
Abused by myself
So, what is life, other than a cage for me?
My heart beats faster
The rhythm stuck in my head
2000 miles from love
2000 miles from safety
2000 minutes watching those memories leave me
And only one thing stopping me from running
So, what is life, other than a cage for me?
My mind is lost in thoughts
Thoughts I can’t control
Thoughts that can disappear from me
Thoughts that I can’t stop from traveling back 2000 miles
Thoughts that keep me locked up
So what is life other than a cage for me?
I try to fight past the sights
My eyes have to endure
The sights of my brothers and sisters
Being destroyed by their brothers and sisters
The sights of screams
From a mother trying to save her children
But they already have us
Locked up in boxes,
Shipping us away
So what is life, other than a cage for me?
I smell flesh
Flesh of my four parents
Flesh that has been hung up like beef in a Chinese market
Flesh that has been burning for thousands of years
Flesh waves over my nose,
As I sit here thinking,
What is life, other than a cage for me?
As I sit here wondering,
I can’t help but imagining
Is this the life that Martin Luther King dreamed of?
Is this the life that Malcolm X fought for?
Is this the life that Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat for?
Is this the life that Lil Wayne tattooed to his body?
Is this the life that Beyoncé sings about?
So I must ask myself one last time,
What is life, other than a cage for me?
Copyright © Imani Wedderburn | Year Posted 2015
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