Fears and insecurites tend to hold us back,

but what if I told you my greatest fear, 

was embracing my black?

 

We all have a place deep in our souls,

where color has vanished and grey has made it's home,

Begging us,

begging me,

to fall in it's loathesome embrace,

and open my eyes to it's palphable distaste.

 

In my skin,

in mine alone, 

I struggled to find a house away from home.

I was scrutinized,

beaten down.

As soon as I left my birthplace,

I felt as if I had lost my beauty,

my own black crown.

My heart longed to cradle my love for my culture,

but my soul battled, 

and stole away my love like the shadow of a vulture.

 

So I ask you, reader,

what am I faced to do?

Conform to a norm,

or simply stay true?

My will is strong, 

and my desire to heal is eager,

but my soul is suffering,

trapped in a time lapse of African misdemeanor.

 

I want to evolve,

I want to grow.

But my ebony is trapped in a glass case,

that refuses to show.