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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
Copyright ©
Layla Riley-Hill
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