November 13, 2017
She has loved you before your first breath.
When they came for you with sheets over their heads,
And torches lit with hatred.
She held you close to protect you.
When this country deemed you nothing but the strangest fruit,
Left to rot in the unforgiving sun.
It was her voice that echoed through the streets.
When this piece of hell gave you a jail cell
To burn away your fighting spirit for all eternity.
She gave you children to carry your essence to places theirs walls couldn't reach.
They call you "gangster", "thug", "nigger"
You call yourself "gangsta", "thug", "nigga"
She wanted you to be everything except what this world wanted you to be.
You grow to have a face like her father's,
But don't want a woman with a face like your mothers.
You say she's too much, too loud, too strong.
As if she could've raised you in this world if she wasn't.
You say she is too independent,
Well dammit give her someone to depend on.
You've leaned on her love your entire life.
With society's gun to your head,
She stands by you, blade to their neck.
Despite all of the disrespect
and dirt you've thrown on her name.
She was still with you when they threw dirt on your grave.
So even in the end you could never say...
That you were ever alone.
