Black and White
Mixed
Mullato
and Anything in Between.
One part Hemingway, one part Gil Scott-Heron.
A revolutionary in need of a cause.
A writer in need of a pen.
The sweaty dredges of blackness is a part of me.
As is the toil of Irish migrant workers
and Natives, fasting on tobacco
and the soft light of trees.
and the hug of a mother or father.
A father is not present with me.
I am without the touch of his Negro skin
and his soft beard.
I am my own man now, soft spoken, thoughtful.

But Blackness is inside of me, it is not in him.
Nor is it in Martin Luther King
or Huey Newton.
Blackness is in me, looking forward.