1
Surely this was the land of great deeds. The land where fire busted people showered in jewels and power. Or was this the land of solitude, locked and beaten. Hard to believe from the vast minority. Though the police seem to be keen on killing me. Was I not to walk the streets due to the tone of my skin; Black as chocolate. Was I supposed to acknowledge those brutal pigs as my superiors respect them and cherish them. Would they save me from a burning fire? My skin says different.
2
Yes, I am Black. I am Latin. I am an American. Though in their eyes, I am a monkey. How could I be so hairy, so pungent in shape? A creature in their eyes; why please, put me in the zoo. But was it not science that stated you, white men, were monkeys too, or did I imagine the science? Either way, I am as you, a monkey, sure. Smell my armpits, hand me a banana I peel open with my feet, but I watch you do the same thing. Using those feet, you call hands to unload your gun on me; that’s your banana. A killer banana.
3
I love California; I love the Valley. How could I leave a place that has raised me; I couldn’t. I stand here bluntly and see the magnificent people stare back at me. Though you and your system of hypocrisy crumble my living. “He’s just a black piece of shit. Look at his monkey face.” I stand in front of you, and you spit in my face. You call yourself men, protectors of evil; yet, aren’t you the evil we should be protected from? How can I walk home and not be arrested? I still question how I was cuffed and frisked for making my way to my own safe haven. I ask, do you really need to do this. You say, “Do you have anything sharp that may harm me?”. If I did, I wouldn’t say.
4
I strive to make a man out of myself, a remembrance that never fades from society. You strive for a remembrance to be feared by society, pathetic. I laugh knowing that I, a Black Boy, a Latin Boy, fuck, an American Boy, will always be a better American citizen than you and the farm you live in. America is a prideful place, not a secure place. I see progression, more than I knew could be. I say I love Th’e. Never leave America, for you may have pigs and pigs and holy shit you have pigs—yet I love you. My place, my living. Again, I will be a remembrance of this country’s legacy.
Copyright 2020. Jordan Franco. All rights reserved.
Comentários