By Adhel Arop

With pain slicked eyes

He emerged from the ashes

Professing to the world

He is human

Dear Black man,

Does the world not know

Exhaustion plagues your existence

The pain that the oozes

With the fear uncertainty

 the world target you?

And why?

We stand with you brother

In all your softness

The faces of revolution change but

The spirit remains the same

Existing merely by the breaths

That flow in and out

Human all too human 

Yet the color?

The color sets us apart

And why?

The answer merely

floats in non-existence

Don’t spread your wings Icarus

The  world is in flames

Your destruction accompanies the spring progression 

The world faces into silent screams

Parts fo yourself echo pain into the ripples of time

How long must one suffer?

At which point do we belong?

I fear solitude for only I

And my reflection stare at one another

Tears rolling down our cheeks

We stand there 

As silent cries strum our vocal cords

In perfect harmony

Our hearts screech

Tired

Waiting for a moment unity

We only experience the illusion of standing still

The earth beneath our feet quakes

As moments wrapping around the sun become years

The woman knows not her power

She fears herself

How must one live in such a manner

To fear your own reflection?

One that emulates greatness inside

Swirl with the fluttering 

Of the wind

Reach your hands high

Pull head from beneath the clouds

She emerges

With pain slicked eyes

Find this poem and more, now in print, available at select locations in Vancouver.