Those who speak of being woke
tell me,
How do you know?
Is it because you call Egypt kemet?
Or because an ankh is around your neck?
Is it because you protest?
Or every once in a while you use the word "hotep"?
Maybe it's because you know bits of black history,
And can articulate moments of black misery.
Is it because you always remind us that we were slaves,
And use that to explain everything that happens today?
Maybe it's because you study the universe,
And emphasize BLACK when you mention who was the first
To introduce math, writing, and pyramids to the earth.
You glorify blackness and praise enlightenment
But I've never heard an explanation
To what being enlightened meant.
I ask because I know the world has evil,
I know that "kemet" translates into "land of black people".
I have protested to send a message
I have an ankh bracelet,
And gave a close friend my ankh necklace.
I'm a firm believer in the universal laws.
In conversations about creation,
I claim that the black woman is god.
I've read the "oldest book in the world" allegedly,
By Ptahhotep And "hotep" means peace.
Along with other definitions.
But my point of contention,
Is in my studies I never found the need
To say I'm "woke" or claim others are underneath
For not knowing what I know, or reading what I read.
I understand enlightenment as inner serenity.
I don't need a category to tell me what I believe
We're all on a journey,
Where you are makes you no better than me
This is not meant to be anything prophetic or deep
It is just to say, that fighting to stay awake
Simply leads to great fatigue
So if there are those who need rest
...Then let them sleep
