- Non-Erotic Poetry
- I Screamed At Inhumanity
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I screamed
My brain turned hot
My heart became a piston
Close to breaking its cocoon
I screamed
Angry
Saddened
Hurting
For my ancestors
For my relatives
For my offspring
I screamed
For the royalty that was stripped away from me
And my great, great, great, great grand people
To do the work of people who would not do it themselves
Kings and queens who were shackled and stripped
Turned from human to inhumane
From beautiful to black
Raped, whipped and stripped
From one to three-fifths
Then finally given freedom that was stolen
Only to be raped, whipped and stripped
Switching the torture from outside to inside
Switching the torture from physical to psychological
I screamed
Seeing my family
The kings and queens of centuries ago
Have relinquished their titles to honor much less
Drugs
Genocide
Ignorance
I screamed
Looking far
Seeing my cousins killing my other cousins
Not understanding why
But seeing my distant home being stripped of its jewels
The blood of my blood enriching the soil and poisoning the waters
Contrasts of black and white
Contrasts of beauty and fear
I screamed
Looking across the street
Seeing my cousins killing my other cousins
Not understanding why
Seeing my relatives being stripped of their inner beauty
The blood of my blood infused with drugs and abuse
Contrasts of black and black
Contrasts of beauty and ignorance
I screamed
At my children and their future
The evolution of man
From human to inhumane to nonhuman
Void of living
Void of compassion
Only an amalgamation of atoms
Swirled into a mass
Whose decisions, if based on the past,
Can produce the best of me
Can produce the worst of me
The blood of my blood flowing
From generation to generation
Hoping the atrocities will decrease
Knowing the atrocities may increase
I screamed
For the tragedy of slavery
I screamed
Remembering
Miss Evers’ Boys
The strange fruit
The Watts riots of the 60’s
The Watts riots of the 90’s
I screamed
For the degradation of visual, mental, and chemical genocide
I screamed
For the fear of what is to come
I screamed
Wondering if the towers were in Nigeria
Would the New York Times have posted the name of each dead person
I screamed
Wondering when the names of each soldier killed displayed in the news
Became renamed simply as troops
I screamed
Wondering when gross acts of humanity
Became normal and usual
I screamed
How inhumane
My brain turned hot
My heart became a piston
Close to breaking its cocoon
I screamed
I screamed
I screamed
Until all I could do was inhale
And hope
- COMMENTS
Wsdempseyover 11 years agoI read this and could feel some emotion but was not terribly moved- until the last line. The image of drawing in a ragged breath after a prolonged and painful scream, and trying to find refuge in hope, brought every word written before it into a sharper emotional focus. It was almost like having the poem read to me a second time, but instantaneously and spoken directly into my heart. The impact was deep, and I thank you.
Cinneralmost 12 years agoI'm humbled by this poem. It takes courage to stir up such emotion in oneself and then to write it down and put it out there for others to see. Would that I can follow in your footsteps and be one of the voices of our age.
I bow down to you!
Anonymousalmost 18 years agoi don't really know where to begin...as i was reading this poem the more i wanted to read...i found myself wishing that it would never end...very, very noteworthy...Bloodline
Anonymousover 18 years agothis has to be one of the most deepest poems ive ever read, i loved the emotions of anger and sadness in it, the emotions were so intense you could feel as you read
