Everyday after work, we went to the roof to watch the sunset.
The night of our wedding, we watched the sunset.
The day we were taken from our home, we looked up at the sunset.
In Virginia, it was illegal for a white man like myself to marry a black woman like my wife.
That did not stop us.
We lived in secrecy with our children...
Until that day when the sheriff took us away.
We were sentenced to one year in prison and asked to leave the state of Virginia.
We lived in DC where we got married, but were unable to travel back home to see our families.
Our frustration sparked the beginning of the trial.
I still wonder to this day why it was such a problem.
I have the right to be a free American.
I have the right to wake up to the light of sun, not the light of the sheriff's flashlight as he drags me and my wife to jail.
I have rights. My wife has rights. So why are they taken away from us as soon as we become one?
Why must we live in secrecy?
Why must we hide our faces from the sunsets we love so much?
Why must we explain to our kids that we are breaking the law every second of the day?
We live in a world where knowing your rights means knowing your ethnicity.
And I remember Judge Bazile's exact words.
He said:
"Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix."
Your honor, God also loves all of his children whether they are white, black, yellow, malay, or red.
Your honor, no continent on this planet has a distinct color.
Your dishonor, this country was founded by men of mixed ethnicities.
A damn color does not make a damn difference.
Me and my wife are just like any other couple.
We love each other. We fall asleep and wake up next to each other. We care for our kids. We care for our family. We have not harmed a soul in any way at all.
You can't tell me to divorce my wife because I simply won't do it.
You tell me to leave with my wife and I'll do it. If I must leave another state, or a country, or a continent, or this Earth with her, I'll do it in a heartbeat.
All I want... is to be... with her.
I want to lay in bed with her and stare at the color of our skin.
My skin is as bright as the day.
Her skin is as dark as the night.
And when the day and night meet & mix, the product is a beautiful... sunset.
YOU ARE READING
Views
Poetry"Views" is the second collection of my poems. For these poems, I decided to write with a bit of a challenge and put each poem in an uncommon perspective. Enjoy! :-)
