We shall not be moved
Together we stand, together we fall
Blown by the wind
Blown by the bullet
Drawn by their words, drawn up from the river
Unmoved by their ignorance
Pulled up by their rope
Color me black and blue
This seat is not for you
This seat does not have your name on it
But it doesn’t have our name on it
Ours
We, the unnerved, dry mourning of determination
That melting together is not the alternative
Make exceptions for
The shit colored
The Freedom Riders
The warriors without helmets or swords
The warriors with skin as a shield, skin as a weapon
So that we can become a pale, bottomless entity?
So
This is what we came for
Cried bloody tears and wiped them away with our hope?
Came face to face with grimy struggle and gripped it by the throat
Is this what we fought for?
A melting pot to boil away my ebony goddess
And stir me with your ignorance
Season me with your blindness to look like everyone else?
A gray, discombobulated, sickening mess
Damn
Damned if I be transformed by hatred and bigotry
I shall march to victory unless I’m cut by the feet
Marching on bloody ankles
Damned if my color should be taken away from me
Color me soot
Color me blood
Color me shadow
Color me the right color
The right color?