Member Poem

Brother

“I am not your damn brother!”

You shouted at me as if to prove your greater value

The look of utter disgust piercing my chest as you look down on my existence

Sorry brother I didn’t mean to spill my water on your superior jeans

“I am not your damn brother!!”

My face crumples with the curiosity of why you continue this glare and snarl

How is it that our shared humanity is somehow separated in this moment

Sorry brother I don’t mean to cause your anger with my vernacular

“I am not your damn brother!!!”

What has brought this pain upon you

Why are you so angry with this life

Listen brother there is no need for your hostilities

“I said I am not your DAMN bro…”

I heard you say what your heart won’t feel

Please understand that this is not the space to release

We are bonded by the dust that created the earth

From which we were made and given the same air to live

Our ancestors come from a tree with many limbs but deep roots

Your creation did not begin on a different plane of higher altitude

Brother don’t mistake your perception as our reality

“I am not…!”

I am not here to be pulsed into futility but to stand against intolerance

Our skin tones are the only distinction worthy of note

Tones that give us definitive uniqueness that makes the world’s spectrum glow magnificently

Hunger for ambrosia and grapes drives us all

We could share our fruits but instead we hide the reaping

Brother God taught me to love through it all

“I…!”

Hold on to your grief like a blade in your hands

It will slice through your soul and remove all hope

I may not be your brother, but…

YOU ARE MINE!