SISTER

Mother taught me to love

I learnt not only from her words but her actions

She took strangers beneath her warmth

Smiled and called them family, no retraction

You remind me of mother

For I could see in you that ebony, curvy, curly black perfection

God truly never made a mistake at creation

I wonder if you were ever taunted for it, like she was

In a heartbeat I called you sister

And so when I stepped into your home

I had no need to fear

I trusted you like sister to sister

Amazed at what you had accomplished

I stood in awe of your beauty

Perfection seemed to you an ordinary feat.

Mother would be truly proud.

But something has changed

Your eyes no longer shine with love

You extend your hand not with care, but rage

When you speak about me

Your words are filled with disdain

Drums that once beat to our unity

Have been replaced with disunity

I woke up to strange faces looking down at me

I could not understand what I had done wrong

Would someone please hear my own words?

My body aches, and before long

I’m all in flames

Mother would never approve this

I thought of you sister

My eyes searched for you amongst the crowd

I hoped you would rescue me

So as I close my eyes from this pain

I choose to forgive...

Let not my daughter suffer this hate

But be allowed to grieve

Let her remember our glory days

And be assured of better days.