<\/p>\n
The first poem I ever wrote about being black<\/span><\/p>\n Was about how I feared my hair would not match <\/span><\/p>\n with my love for marshmallow toned, Ashton Kutcher look alikes<\/span><\/p>\n That she would be a part of me they could never understand<\/span><\/p>\n Long then short, then long again\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Curly then straight but long\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n and curly then short again<\/span><\/p>\n And wrapped up\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n And big and flat\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n She would be more complicated <\/span><\/p>\n than having to explain how black lives mattering,<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>does not mean that people do not matter\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The second poem I ever wrote about being black was angry<\/span><\/p>\n How I apologized for being angry<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>because I did not understand why I was angry\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The third poem I ever wrote about being black\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Spilled out of me faster than I wanted it to<\/span><\/p>\n In fact, I did not want it to<\/span><\/p>\n I shut my mouth, ignored every hashtag and video and refused to let it tap on my heart strings<\/span><\/p>\n I cannot explain to you what it is to be black<\/span><\/p>\n I am still trying to understand what it is to be black\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n I can only hope that for a moment you do not see that\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n You just see human<\/span><\/p>\n You just see hurting<\/span><\/p>\n You just see feeling<\/span><\/p>\n That the discomfort is not to elicit guilt but to invoke change<\/span><\/p>\n To start a narrative so unfamiliar to your ears that you can’t help but repeat it\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n In hopes that it will make sense\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n But it will not make sense<\/span><\/p>\n Because it is not your narrative<\/span><\/p>\n It is only yours to pass along<\/span><\/p>\n To keep the thread woven through everyone’s stories so that distance<\/span><\/p>\n Will not be the reason for ignorance<\/span><\/p>\n The fourth poem I ever wrote about being black was this one<\/span><\/p>\n And tonight, I sat in a room with people who painted their minorities and oppressions and privilege all on one canvas<\/span><\/p>\n We brought the tombstone hashtags into light<\/span><\/p>\n And gave them the honor they were due<\/span><\/p>\n we talked about things that make us uncomfortable and human<\/span><\/p>\n There was no fighting<\/span><\/p>\n Only listening<\/span><\/p>\n Only love<\/span><\/p>\n So the fourth poem I’ve ever written about being black<\/span><\/p>\n Was healing<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 5\/30 The first poem I ever wrote about being black Was about how I feared my hair would not match with my love for marshmallow toned, Ashton Kutcher look alikes That she would be a part of me they could never understand Long then short, then long again\u00a0 Curly then straight but long\u00a0 and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,7,21,11,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-18","category-art","category-change","category-poetry","category-race"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arielleestoria.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arielleestoria.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arielleestoria.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arielleestoria.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arielleestoria.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=300"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arielleestoria.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arielleestoria.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arielleestoria.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arielleestoria.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}