For my black and brown babies,
As y’all sit in these desks
Taking a standardized test
In the middle of a pandemic
And a trial for the murder of another precious Black life…
I hear your leg shaking like a train going 180
about to pop off the rails
I know you’re feeling helpless
like what is the point of all of this?
I feel you in pain like raging but gentle rain
falling on a carpet
Yet
I also see
all of your beautiful melanin
and your heart strings on violins
and the way you’ll always win
even if some want you to fail
But
you’ll prevail
because those rails
are stronger than you think
and I pray that you’ll never shrink
but realize the greatness that you are
the most brilliant of stars
in the darkest of nights
the most necessary voices
that even a mask can’t hide
And
like the Dark Knight
you’ll rise
like the Black Panther
you’ll fight
for the world you deserve
for the love you conserve
for the joy you preserve
the Black Joy
With which
you’ll prevail
