My TearsA Poem by Aisha MaryamSometimes I want to cry I want to let my tears cascade down the slopes of my cheeks To let them caress my face I want to let my tears form a river An ocean A hurricane They are my only weapon. I want to cry for the people who are lost For the people who are stranded in the depth of a desert The cruel waves of heat banishing them to silence I wish my tears could soothe their dry eyes I wish my tears could quench their everlasting thirst for freedom Sometimes I wish I could do anything but cry But what can I do when I have no voice When my voice is lighter than air When I scream till my throat is inflamed But my voice is restrained I sit in a world where I have no place Where the deep shades of brown that paint my skin, defines me To the world, I am a soiled canvas The work of an artist gone wrong I am abstract art Unreadable Undescribable No No No I refuse to see through your eyes Yes I am abstract art Open for interpretation My own opinion. My tears are not my weakness They are my strength They create waves of opprobrium They wash out your opinion Casting them away at sea The ocean's secret now Yet you still slip yourself into an intransigent coat Sleeve by sleeve, Shoulder by shoulder You let the coat embrace you It fits you in all the right places You assume it shelters you from the pouring rain surrounding you But it really doesn’t suit you that well Take off the jacket I offer You refuse to shed it You choose to enclose yourself in what you believe to be warmth You choose to believe that ignorance is indeed bliss Bliss indeed Ignorance is bliss For those who do not have to wear the constance weight of fear on their shoulder. A second layer of skin Ignorance is Bliss For those who wake up on dry land Unaffected by raging waters Ignorance is bliss For those who are considered natives When really we are immigrants, All of us We are immigrants from birth leaving the safety of our mother’s womb For a dangerous world Sometimes I want to cry I want my tears to create a river One that holds solace at the other side Sometimes I want to cry For my tears to drown the cries of my brethren Because I can no longer bear to listen No longer bear to hear their pleas No longer bear to watch as we become less than human Until we are just a loose article No longer a we No longer a you No longer an I Who are you to say we don’t belong in this world Who are you to nullify my belief based upon the color of my skin Based upon the fabric of my scarf Based upon the ethnicity of my people What gives you the right to punish us For a crime we never comitted Punish us like you caught our hand in the cookie jar When the lid was firmly shut What gives you the right To deem me a threat What makes me a threat My hope for peace? My wish for compassion? What makes me a threat The fabric covering my aubrun waves? My confidence is my belief? What makes me a threat? When I weep for the damage instilled among all people? Sometimes I wish I could cry Not for me Not just for my people But for all people hurting Regardless the color of their skin Their culture or religion Sometimes I wish I could cry for you So that my tears seep into the barren soil you stand on Creating a garden Maybe the change in scenery will help I cry for you Each tear a prayer That this horrible nightmares is never a reality for you Because if I do not cry I fume My tears evaporate till I am nothing but steam Till I am an empty kettle Filled with nothing but an empty whistle Till I am you So I cry I cry for all people Each teardrop a saccharine word of rejoice I cry till I create a rainbow Till I see color in the sky again.
© 2017 Aisha MaryamReviews
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2 Reviews  Last Updated on December 9, 2017 |
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