Poetry

i am brown.

I am brown.

My hair is black.

My eyes are black.

I am brown.

The soles of my feet are brown.

My palms are brown.

My legs are brown.

My arms are brown.

My body is dark, but my heart is not.

My skin is not white, but my heart is not evil.

Oh white man, I am just like you.

I too enjoy breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

I too watch sports and cheer when my team succeeds.

I too feel happiness and joy.

Oh white man, you are just like me.

You too eat your favourite foods.

You too were once a child who laughed and cried.

You too feel sad and lonely.

What makes us so different?

What makes us strangers and enemies?

We are both the children of Nature, and she has bestowed upon us the same hearts.

We are both the heirs of this world.

We are both indebted to our mother, who nursed us and raised us with the utmost of love.

We are both the children of our parents, who, although imperfect, tried to raise us with the kind of affection that could not be found even in the brightest corner of the world.

Why are you like this?

Why am I like this?

Why do you always lunge at my throat with a knife?

Why do my words turn to swords that try to pierce your skin?

You are filled with hate, as am I.

You hate me, and I hate you.

You have hurt my family.

You have inflicted a wound so deep that no amount of love can heal it.

I still hear the echoes of my fallen ancestors that scream in pain.

The pangs of distress trouble them every day.

But you do not learn.

You continue to hurt me, and remind me of all the pain you have already caused.

But what of me?

I try to forgive and forget, but it is a fight.

It is a challenge I cannot seem to overcome.

In my heart, I know that you are my brother, my sister, moulded from the same clay as me.

I was just left in the oven for too long.

I know my mother wants me to love you, and you me.

But how can this happen, when we continue to hurt one another?

Our mother grieves deeply.

Her cries can be heard for generations.

When will we stop this game?

I want to stop.

Oh white man, please.

You do not understand.

You and I are the same.

I have just been left in the oven for too long.

I am brown.

And you are white, my brother, my sister.

But that does not mean we were meant for enmity.

I am brown.

But my heart is not filled with evil.