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| death will come | ||
| on the day it wants | ||
| dressed as it pleases | ||
| at the time he chooses | ||
| death will come | ||
| of that there is little doubt | ||
| how it will be received | ||
| is the matter here | ||
| #youwillnotkillmetoday | ||
| with ignorance | ||
| because you hate me | ||
| because of my melanin | ||
| because I long to be free | ||
| because I demand equality | ||
| #youwillnotkillmetoday | ||
| there are traps by my | ||
| front door | ||
| armed guards at the | ||
| back of my mind | ||
| least you try to | ||
| slip in with me | ||
| unaware today | ||
| is not your day | ||
| if old age comes | ||
| soft to drape me | ||
| in forever I will | ||
| graciously away | ||
| but today is not that day | ||
| miles to travel | ||
| more forward to draw | ||
| from the mud | ||
| more errands for my ancestors | ||
| more clever cartography | ||
| more dancing tomorrow | ||
| from fractured todays’ | ||
| and hard lived yesterdays | ||
| I have grown tough skin | ||
| over my hope | ||
| I water it with pragmatism | ||
| I am vigilant and will | ||
| not be set upon unaware | ||
| I anticipate you in my dreams | ||
| and have drawn a circle in | ||
| salt around your intentions | ||
| wrapped a prayer in white | ||
| cloth delivered it to a tree | ||
| that knows your name | ||
| I have talked to the dust | ||
| & the wind about you | ||
| and they whisper my name | ||
| before yours as life naturally | ||
| proceeds death | ||
| #youwillnotkillmetoday | ||
| I am the promise risen | ||
| from the ocean | ||
| I am what grows outside | ||
| the fences you build | ||
| the rising whine at | ||
| the back of your worried | ||
| fretful mind (yes | ||
| the other shoe will drop) | ||
| bells are for tolling | ||
| as each dog has a sun | ||
| rise suns set on all houses | ||
| this is not your day | ||
| today I walk upright unafraid | ||
| continuing to dance on oppression | ||
| drumming for justice | ||
| walking against the wind | ||
| up every hill since the good ship jesus & plymouth rock | ||
| I am the sword and the stone | ||
| carrying darkness like a banner inviting creation
I am my machetes are sharp my powder is dry I have left yucca for the left-handed child iron in my right pocket honey in my hand #youwillnotkillmetoday I have banished you from the land of my dreams I want not I suffer not I am the living circle unbroken #youwillnotkillmetoday image: by Jimmy Nelson |
This is me, traversing the lake of thin ice, tap dancing; manic grin in one hand, Ouzi of my design in the other; daring the monsters to escape my wrath. I respectfully ask if I can use this in my next article, Warrior Woman!
Malaika
Yes. Take the word forward!