What is it about me that scares you so?
Is it the ebony of my skin
my obsidian eyes
my gaze that defies your strictures?
What is it about me that scares you so?
Is it my history
defiled by your forefathers
the shackles that you bound mine with
the ones we broke free from?
What is it about me that scares you so?
That I’m just as human
just as deserving
just as capable of thought, action, love and pain
as you?
What is it about me that scares you so?
That when I kneel in protest
it is wrong
but when you kneel on my neck
it is somehow right?
What is it about me that scares you so?
that you are unwilling to share
the land that you live on
the food that you eat
the clothes that you wear
the air that you breathe?
What is it about me that scares you so?
Aren’t we all flesh and bone
Muscle and sinew
the only difference being
the colour of our skin?
Is that what scares you so?
Is that what scares you so?
Is that what scares you so …
So,
you suppress,
you deny,
you imprison,
you kill?
***
Is my life worth so little?
My every move
a threat
to your freedom, your ways, your beliefs
When my brothers protest
you see it as a riot
our voices are dismissed
our anger ignored
But all that you do
is justified
by laws
made by you, for you, amongst you
If we have nothing
we are faceless
voiceless
powerless
If our very lives are yours
to take
to crush
to destroy
What are we then?
What am I then?
A little bit of nothing
a whole lot of … what?
Then,
What is it about me that scares you so?
What is it?
What?
