Black
Raheem Muhammad 1964 (Alabama)
The essence… and out of it, “Let there be light,”
Colorlessness and of what all colors come from.
Why are the strong minority afraid of the night?
How powerful is nothing compared to the Sun?
Knowledge evolved and comes from ignorance,
Like a child releases the breast of his mother.
Growing into manhood by taking in substance,
Becoming God like in such a way like no other.
They wonder why I did them, the crimes…
Not seeing how everything’s twisted and behind,
But insanely programmed I’ve admitted, my mind…
By their oppressiveness and wickedly lying.
Look at all that’s surrounding you, it’s easy,
And focus on America’s Black youth, you’ll see,
The pain they’ve caused to be so blue, in me,
I just wanted just-us, equality too, be free.
They look at me and are quick to judge, so wrong,
How about the mirror, expression, grudge, face gone,
Shows you my face of dark brown fudge, so strong,
And because of that they can’t even hug, I moan.
Pains… in me from centuries ago, by them deployed,
To a boy and now a man you know, almost destroyed,
Drugs… yours altering me -to and fro- as if to deploy,
But out of it the Most High grows, into ever loving joy.
Once nothing, now something… Black.
About this poem
The essence… and out of it, “Let there be light,” Colorlessness and of what all colors come from.
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Submitted by TheArkProject on July 02, 2022
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:11 min read
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Quick analysis:
| Scheme | ABACDEDEFGGHIIIIJKJLMMNNO |
|---|---|
| Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
| Characters | 1,226 |
| Words | 238 |
| Stanzas | 1 |
| Stanza Lengths | 25 |
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"Black" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/131028/black>.
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