How effortlessly you mock my pain
Twist my hurt, run with my story
For your own selfish gain
How easily you weave a tale
Words of oppression stolen
From my expression for your own fill
The doors open for you
Unharmed, clear and free
While my protests go unheard
My eyes blind and burned
My suffering denounced and unseen
Was it simple for you to paint the narrative
Of injustice in your favor
Co-opting the language my people
Have used to color your so-called martyr
As an innocent victim, lost in the slaughter
Meanwhile my cries are run over
As lies and exaggerations and fodder
To fuel prejudice and the hate u give
My black life doesn’t matter
Let the comfort you find in all this
Serve you well, as it has served me
To live my black life triumphantly
Unwavering, unapologetically
Full of conviction and marching forward
As effortlessly, easily, and simply
As I can

Photo by Ian Kiragu on Unsplash