I Am Black

I Am Black

They say Black is a void it holds no color

To this I disagree

Black is a color that color is me.

I Am Black Jamaica Black

Black like the ackee seed and a moonless night scented by the ocean breeze.

I Am Black Beautiful Black

Black like the velvet pedals of the pansy and the sheltering shade

of a willow tree on a blazing hot day of 103 degrees.

I Am Black Africa Black

Black like the darkest roots that reach back to my ancestry networking life unseen.

I Am Black Universally Black

Black like the matter that is dark holding the heavens aloft

And folding the night sky to secure your slumber.

I Am Black Brooklyn Black

Black like the sticky rooftops that we live under and those city streets

We travers over to get where we need to be.

I Am Black Creative Black

Black like the womb where the first two cells join to make all life that we see

Black like the pigment I rub into parchment to tell such visual stories.

I Am Black Sweet Sustenant Black

Black like the waxy hive of the honeybee spawned inside of a birch tree.

I Am Black Righteous Black

Black like the love fist raised in protest seeking justice for all life in solidarity.

I Am Black Resilient Black

A constant existing in nature where no light can be seen.

I Am Black

Black is a color that color is me.

©️Pamella Allen 2021