I once had a dream….
I was sitting in a church, amongst the royal purple, velvet lined benches
Staring, gazing at the podium where the preacher stands to give us the sermon
Supplicating, wife eyes filled by the crucifix hung upon the wall
Where a beat fills the air, the rhythm of marching feet
Every door opened, and in walked many men and women
Their skin the same color as mine, the color of fertile earth
They lined up in front, as the choir does, all smiles
They looked down from the stage, at m, their eyes shining, filled by my visage
And they sang my praises
They accepted me
And suddenly…
I sang along with them, finally where I belonged
But then I awoke in a sea of white
Where I stand alone in stark relief to my surroundings
Like text scrawled on a blank page
No rhythm, no beat, no song
The echoes of my chastisement ringing in my ears
memories of my failures burned into my eyes
superimposed images on my reality
The church excommunicated me, and denounced my mother
So starved of warmth that I do not even want to burn down the village that shunned me to feel it
So cold i’d immolate myself for relief instead
Perhaps the color of my skin is the same as a sear instead
Burned by the sun I never flew close enough to anyways
