"Is This Yo' Shoe, Boo?"

I KNOW I'm gonna tick somebody off with this one!! I know it. But I don't care. I know abandonment when I see it. Chickens! Is it really that hard to stand by the side of the one who loves you? Chime in. I'd love to hear the feedback.




"Is This Yo' Shoe, Boo?"

Black man, black man
what has happened to you
no longer the proud lion
or protectors of your families
you're now a fixture on the nightly news
woefully
you've become the monster under the bed
the white man I no longer fear
you are my boogeyman
who taught you to turn tail and run
when times get hard
you lay low
leaving the future of our race
teetering on the shoulders of the black woman
who convinced you a brother
is an enemy
is a brother
I dare say not yo mama
see she's the one sittin' up nights
prayin' yo black ass down the right path
how many tears have been shed on your behalf
how many times will you sit quietly
as the blood of your sons fills the streets
how many precious black boys will be lost
before you come out of your hiding places
how many future Obamas lay 6 feet under
because the books in their hands
betrayed the codes of the streets
had you looked closer
you may have seen your own reflection
and you both could've carried the same torch
watching each others back the whole way
it's time for you to come back home
you've forsaken the family
leaving behind all we once held sacred
you've traded their 1st days of school
for a life of crime
and years behind bars
while you gettin' yo hustle on
guess who waits for a love
you've placed on your back burner
guess who grows up
and learns to be a man of the streets
instead of the man of his house
you've replaced whispered sweet nothings
for shaming disrespectful names
and women
you treat like bitches on a leash
you've dethroned your queens
for the love of a lesser woman
and not even a real love
surely you know
you're only 1 rape accusation away
from the lynch mob and a jail cell
for a little head you've discarded the one
who held you up
when you didn't stand on your own
despite our history together
you've somehow found the audacity
to doubt our love for you
telling yourself our love does not exist
justifies your betrayal
black women have endured
all you've been through
and we're still here
but we now fight alone in the trenches
beautiful diamonds we are
and twice as strong baby
we make it without you
but know this
NOTHING removes the sting of your absence
no amount of money or power
touches the love of our black men
why should I jump the fence
to be with someone who sees the outside
but is mystified by truths
you and I share with but a glance
a white man would only get half the story
and thus
get only half of me
black man I feel
abandoned
disrespected
betrayed
dethroned
forsaken
discarded
utterly diminished
when I should feel
loved
respected
adored
valued
uplifted
and protected
if this is not your likeness
then much respect due
if you see yourself in my words
don't be mad boo
if the shoe fits
then it's yo shoe
if you don't like the fit
then change yo shoe

© Antoinette Davis
    September 18, 2008