Get Your Premium Membership

Read Incarceration Poems Online

NextLast
 

The strength we embody

They told us our skin meant exile
That our joy would be put on trial
Because it brings rain
But how can they hate the rain when it nourishes the ground we walk on
The same ground that grows the food we need to survive

They want us to cower in the face of their Whiteness
To bow down to their egos and stroke it
For us to call them superior
And reprimand our own blackness 
And repent with silence

But we were born strong
Strength flowed through our bloodlines
Coursing through generations 
Our ancestors created a legacy of pride 
That we their children will not allow to be broken
We have endured the stings of their whips 
We have lived through the shackles of slavery 
We have taken abuse from the system 
Yet still remained outspoken 
Refusing to be the beat up victim 
And faced the inhumane conditions of incarceration 

We were made to withstand any storm 
To hold our own 
Whilst being pushed around 
To trust in the power of ourselves 
To embrace the harsh realities of life 
To continue to love 
And balance the rain with our sun 
To smile and not giving them the satisfaction 
Of their racism
And to not be bullied by their discrimination

Copyright © Layla Riley-Hill

NextLast



Book: Radiant Verses: A Journey Through Inspiring Poetry