Short Poems for Black History Month

Black History: A Rant in Rhythmic Prose

The Black History Rant

The simplicity is in my eccentricity/

'cause I'm simply me. /

Can't be what you want me to be/

'cause I stay free/

My authenticity comes from centuries/

of just being me/

a free being more than a thing/

cause I'm just me/

and trust me I can see/

the falsehoods/

of young black hoods/ 

in black hoods/

or the perceptions of those thereof/

or peoples perceptions because/

they know not who I am,/

or from where I came/

Look, they don't even know my name/

Black, African American, negroe, nigga, nigger/

it's not all the same./

these bouts about my definitive clout or lack there of/

has me assured/

I am more than they know of/

Gangster, gentleman, lover, fighter, player, hater, all of the above/

and so much more/

so I do implore you to explore my point of view/

it is tried and true, red, white, blue/

Been here on this planet existing beside you/

but It is a mystery to many/

who know not of my history/

but I have plenty/

and let me say it plainly/

this single month/

can NOT contain me!/

I am Black History/

I rupture like a bleeding liver/

scared from drowning in alcohol

or by a New Orleans levy!/

I am that great vibrant calvary/

You can call me buffalo soldier/

And even though I get mad at life/

like damn, it isn't fair man!/

How they did the Tuskegee airmen/

How dare them!/

All of them hate us,but they covet the U.S./

'Cause we scream in our bad dreams the best/

and all of them belong to the government/

Call me paranoid

but I see the corruption it breeds/

The seeds of misinformation they plant/

but o' well, let me just say: FIGHT THE POWER!/

and end this rant/