I'm Right Here

Can you see me?I’m right in your line of sight,but are you looking at meor through me?

Maybe you choose to focus onmy veneer of vanitybecause the violence you project on mepassivelywon’t allow you to acknowledge me naturally,so you choose, rather irrationally,to cling to the perception you developedhaphazardly.

So I’m asking you — actually —Who am I?

Do you see my face,or can you see only my race?

You think the fact that I am in this placegives credence to the stereotype that I’mlazy, violent, hypersexual, and awaste of spaceand my being incapacitated deters crime and,somehow,makes the public safe.

Are you serious?Willfully delirious?But why aren’t you curious…

About my marginalization,my systematic socioeconomic discrimination,my adverse childhood experiences andeducation?What about my dehumanization,the constant threat to my liberationbecause your love affair with colonizationis perpetuated through my incarceration?

Can you see the person you’re facing?

I am the 6’2” inflamed keloidal scar of traumathat you always seem to overlook.

Is it that if you look into my eyes,they’ll reflect you once hanging me from a tree,and the guilt of your inhumanitywill drive you to tears?

Or is it that if you fully acknowledge myhumanness,you’ll be incinerated, and the lies youcirculatedwill be obliterated,leaving me most beloved and you most hated,and you can’t take it.

That must be your fear!

You’d rather acknowledge me symbolically,smile in my face, and give me honorablementions and disingenuous apologies,instead of looking me in my eyes, seeing meholistically,and recognizing my story’s authenticity,even though it may not always be clear.

Despite the lies you toldand the legacies you stole,I’ve always beenright here!