statement
if the realm of our magnificence is oblivious to you,
observe with keener eyes those you taunt and defame
with such vigorous animosity.
we have been forced to shame ourselves
in the restrooms and alleyways of your cities
because you deny us the privilege of consorting openly
with our own kind.
we are creatures of love and dreaming.
our birthright: a handsome face to kiss away melancholy tears
and husband the fragility of our incandesant lives.
at best, we are the phantoms of your would-be dreams.
at worst, the childishness of forgotten days
that you discarded,
for the amber cloak of maturity.
_
tell the delawares and the cherokee i have seen their
faces and am proud to call them kin.
we are one! bound
by those fertile drops of blood that long ago united,
making me heir to all their misery,
companion to my own.
you have lost your land and i have none to give!
you are herded like cattle / my bonds are invisible,
but no less revolting.
but do not despair. tell the young ones
there will be a sign:
a band of black men casting freedom shadows in the sun.
adrian stanford
