Since Naturally Black is Naturally Beautiful
I must be proud And, naturally Black and Beautiful
Who always was a trifle Yellow And plain, though proud Before.
Now I’ve given up pomades
Having spent the summer sunning And feeling naturally free
(if I die of skin cancer oh well-one less black and beautiful me)
Yet no agency spends millions To prevent my summer tanning
And who trembles nightly
With the fear of their lily cities being swallowed
By a summer ocean of naturally woolly hair?
But I’ve bought my can of Natural Hair Spray
Made and marketed in Watts
Still thinking more
Now rock the boat to a fare-thee-well.
Once we suffered dreaming
into a place where the children are playing
their child’s games
where children are hoping
knowledge survives
if unknowing they follow the game
without winning.
Their fathers are dying
back to the freedom of wise children playing
at knowing
their fathers are dying
whose deaths will not free them
of growing from knowledge
of knowing
when the game becomes foolish
a dangerous pleading
for time out of power.
Quick
children kiss us
we are growing through dream…
Published by permission of Audre
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