Red, White and Blue

April 5, 2021.

Red for the blood my ancestors shed on this land.
White for the DNA they left in me
and Blue for the oceans we both crossed to get here.

Crimson for the sacred blood I am covered in, so much healing, only now, where to begin?
Light for what I once begged God to make me as an ocean of painful
Blue tears streamed down my face in my youth, as I was traumatized and abused in the systems you created.

From an early age, I learned bright lights attract mosquitoes. I then begged for Him to make me dark; hide me from the world.

Mahogany for the Native Americans.
Colorless for the assimilation forced upon them
Blue for the trail of tears they left like guiding northern stars for those that would follow them.
Whose land is this?
Whom did you sacrifice to get that red paint on your white prideful face? As you march for the only lives you protect
You create an us-versus-them-narrative

Red for the anger I felt.
Blue for the crocodile tears you cry.
Your white-guilt leaves oceans, I must swim.
What’s that stereotype about black people again?

Rogue blood for the stain upon America’s hands as she tried to wipe me from her rouge lips.
Ash for the erasure of the oppressed as you tried to make yourself virginal by burning our bodies.
You have many children but are a mother to one or two.
Blue for the sky you too will have to look up and answer to.

We don’t serve the same God.

New for what my God does.
Empty for the unfilled void you would have without us.
Red for the secrets, power, property, and pride
You will have to sacrifice if you want to come along.
It’s time we are transparent.

My God liberates the world from bondage, your god creates chains and intergenerational trauma.
Silver for the lining we are approaching.

Red, white and blue for the promise

Our eyes are bloodshot. 421 years of not blinking, all to see an incandescent vision.
Blue for the dismantling oceans we both must cross to get there.