Sunday, September 24, 2023

QUARANTINE LIFE: POETRY PROMPT---FLYING WHILE BLACK


FLYING WHILE BLACK 

In the air, the banter begins

Purely due to proximity 

A strange need to say something—to share

Since one’s practically cheek to cheek

Pleasantries awkwardly fly

Random questions exposing a flaw

Every who, what, when, where, and why

Seeking conclusions to draw

About stunning lapses in thought

Social circles—deliberately small

So that ignorance is—more often than not

What’s revealed whether he speaks at all

Perhaps nervousness is the spark

Surely something inspires the need

To demonstrate one’s ill-informed smarts

And familiarity 


“Hello, Stranger. What do you do?”

“I’m a poet”, opens the door

Will curiosity walk calmly through

Or will stereotypes underscore

The need to expand one’s horizons 

Diversify cohorts and friends

Take the time to learn of those unlike oneself

Be prepared for the moments life lends

To demonstrate understanding 

That not everyone you meet

Fits the narrative you’ve been commanding 

And trot out, when you feel forced to speak


What’s a reasonable reply

To the revelation that a man chose

A livelihood in The Arts

Yielding no less than prize-winning prose?

Eagerness for origin stories, and details?

Excitement, interest, and awe?

Should hysterical laughter; stunned silence thereafter

Or the pitying shake of the head, that one makes

When confronted with asinine triggers and bait, like

“Do you write in patois?”

Be the way to counter assumptions?

What is it, I surmise

That the noted, carefree

Black poet should be?

Can he camouflage his true identity 

Or just plan to pretend to be sound asleep

When flying the unfriendly skies?




VRW




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