POETIC FACTS: Word Construction

Ooops! It's March...Am I too late for Black History MONTH? Oh well! The FACT is, "Black" History is being made every second of every day that a descendant of African heritage chooses to hold their head above the hatred of this world, and simply breathe. You may not accept the truth of the FACT that people of African descent, throughout the globe, are consciously and unconsciously treated like sub-humans on this planet, at this very hour of the day....but the day you walk in our shoes, and realize that everyday you must wake up to acknowledge the color of your skin, your culture, your speech, your mannerisms, not because you want to, but simply because you are forced to recognize that people, will judge and treat you solely based on your DNA, and not the content of your character; then you will know what it means to be "Black" and living under the oppression of racism. We are not without self-empowerment. We are not without intellect. We are not without sound ability, tenacity and strength. If you see us fail, it is not for lack of trying. Sure, we have a minority of us, just like your own people, who freebase on life and lack the drive and desire to achieve, but the majority of us are swimming hard against a current that is set against our success. We have been raped and robbed and denied for centuries. Destroyed by the millions. Held to the captivity of our minds and souls....and we are STILL HERE, sometimes, only by the power of our own song!

Words weigh
DOWN
pressing against emboldened shoulders
Hot, heavy rocks gathered
at the base of the neck
little-weathered by the torrents of freshly-sweetened syllables
that rush over the head in a tidal wave
A cascade of survived Words beating against the cliff of our hearts
reminding us of the STRENGTH of our tired, weary limbs
Oral Histories of Kings and Queens
Ordinary people surviving a journey of tears
across blood-tainted oceans
on board ship-shelves of urine,
faeces,
menstrual blood and amniotic fluid,
vomit and cries
Speaking to us a PRIDE we once knew before we were tied down
tethered to the boulders at our neck -
Words meant to sink us
down
into an abyss of our own darkness - BLACKNESS
Cursed from the birth of our mother's waters
Growing up in a pool of stagnant stinking brown
NIGGERISMS!
You ain't NOTHING but a good-for-nothing Blackie, BOY!
You just a two-dime TRICK, Black Ho!
Your Mama gave me better head!
And we swallowed
Words
with all the STRENGTH we could muster
Ingesting our PRIDE
Pregnant with fight, trying with all might
to lift ourselves out of the rancid BLACKNESS of the flooded ghettos
Clasping to rocks of achievement
First Black Baseball player
First Black Actress
First Black Doctor
First Black Astronaut
First Black Head Coach
First Black CEO
First Black President
First Hue-man
Last Man left drowning in Words of NIGGERISMS
So, you think you something, huh BOY,
with your fat wallet, mansion and Bentley?
You ain't NOTHING but an Oreo
Who you trying to trick, TRICK?
You know you gotta taste that Laffy-Taffy if you want to get on the ladder, Black Ho!
Words
like boulders, strapped to our necks
unable to imprison us under waters
if we keep swimming
keep climbing
keep moving
UP
Heads above water
Breathing in one death-spiked Word at a time
spitting out the overflow
Inhaling deeply between the waves
until we drag our weighted bodies ashore,
in shouts of VICTORY over Words
Pressed down by Words
but kept afloat by LEGACY
Hurt by Words
but fighting wounded
Delayed by Words
but not denied.
NEVER DENIED
by the POWER of the Words of our own mouths...


"Word Bending"
Copyright 2010. Kalinago Woryi



*Words have consequences...they destroy or they build; they root out or they plant; they subdue or inspire...they drown or propel to greater heights. We can choose their lasting effect on us..........

"We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed" - 2 Corinthians: 8-9