National Poety Month - Poem by Patricia A. Saunders
The end of National Poetry Month with an excerpt from This Too Shall Pass book of poetry.
My
Son
I didn’t birth you
I just feel that I want to see you turn 21
I want to give you advice on how to make it
I want to tell you challenges are coming
I want to tell you people will judge you by the
color of your skin
Not knowing who you are
It doesn’t matter
You’re my son
You will go out with your friends and feel it’s
funny
To be followed
Prove you are in your own neighborhood
That the expensive car you’re driving is your
parents and they worked hard to purchase it
That the clothes you have on aren’t bought with drug
money
You’re going to be alone and there are going to be
times you won’t get one phone call
I want you to know no matter where you come from it’s
not fair
I want you to know others have come before you
Have endured worse
That they died for you to be able to be here
You’re my son
I know it hurts when people fear you because of a
notion of what they see in the media
They don’t know at 10 you became the man of the
house
That by 12 you had a job delivering papers
That you’re going to church every Sunday
That you lead the youth ministry
They don’t see
That you’re afraid when your face is pushed down on
the pavement
That your shoulder feels like it’s burning when it’s
dislocated because you’re being held by hog ties
That you’re being strong though you want to cry for
your mother to come and tell them you’re innocent
You’re my son
I don’t know you but I feel your humiliation
I feel your amazement of the treatment because you
were just sitting in your car waiting for your friends to come out of the store
from getting a bag of chips
I know how your mother feels when she is walking
down the aisle
Surrounded by family to say goodbye as you lay
In the casket
Videotapes deleted
Those who recorded with their cell phones have been
arrested; harassed or worse
Their funerals are tomorrow
(c)2016 This Too Shall Pass, Authorhouse Publishing
Blessings
Patricia A. Saunders
Author, Blogger, and Poet
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