BLACK MAN'S WORK

it's 5:30 a.m.

got my father's name to better,
got recession's storm to weather,
got my black women to queen,
got affirmative's actions to clean,

got ignorance to un-label,
got calamities to un-table,
got my families to un-break,
got confirmations to un-make,

why must I have to prove, all I said I can do?
why must I fight to be, all I said I can be?

got athletics to un-typecast,
got spiritual gardens to un-fast,
got inferiority's terms to un-instill,
got prison's cells to un-fill,

got video cameras on observe,
got statistics fighting to un-curve,
got inequalities to un-endure,
got predictions of failure to un-secure,

why must I confirm, all I said I could learn?
why must I show to be, all I said I could be?

as a black man--- that's the reality
before my workday
even begins

it's 6 a.m.

By MARK ANTHONY THOMAS

From The Poetic Repercussion Copyright © 2004