top of page

Shade by Naima Elmi

‘Dark as the midnight hour I’m bright as the morning sun’

but under the moonlight would you look at me the same?

Divided into tribes

The closest hue to Willie were tendered to more

Is darkness always deemed as filth?

The world drowned with white paint


If I were to say this in French

would you pay more attention?

Would you seek out who owns this voice?


‘Keep ya head up’

Don’t let lynch taint your eyes

His ways sets us back 100 years

For you and I are more equal

Than your eyes could ever explain


Ears drowning in ignorance,

I thank my mother for covering my eyes

It be your own kind pulling you into the storm

Whirling your mind to obliviousness

Sprinkles of doubt

And lightning of arrogance


Ask yourself did god create us

to divide ourselves into hue

I ask myself this question timelessly

The worlds constant desire

Is the

Answers


Black daffodil

Rich in pigment

Caressed by the sun

Disconnected early from its root

Petals plucked one by one

The sun rises

The sun sets

The petals wrinkle up but the pigment remains


Meaningful exteriors grasped so tight

The blue branch so bright and thick

It runs so deep the tree is

Long

Long

Away


A flower that blossoms on its own

Guide its own rising

But repeatedly trampled on

Needs no permission

Its beauty is not only their hue

But

Their

Inner being


But

Their

Existence casted a shadow upon

Like old ruins that no one pays mind to

That no one pays any

Mind

To.


If I were to say this in French

would you pay more attention?

Would you seek out who owns this voice?


Author Bio:

Naima has just completed a degree in English and Creative Writing at Newman University, Birmingham, UK.

'We have to talk about liberating minds as well as liberating society' Angela Y. Davis.




42 views

Comments


bottom of page