#poemsofpresence Peppered moth OG survivor of nights outstretched from London to Atlanta peppered speckles dance on air As a child survival required p

#poemsofpresence

Peppered moth
  OG survivor
of nights

  outstretched
from London to
   Atlanta
peppered speckles
  dance on air

As a child
survival required
   pretending
you were not there
  Stiff as tree,
unseen

London
   late 1700s
Soot of Revolution
   stained trees
Black
  one by one birds
picked off
   white moths
leaving streets
   devoid of
form typica

Today
Yyur Blackness
   Browness
considered the pollution
of our schools

Boisterous boys
  in hoodies
eye rolls of strong
  Black Women
SLANT
   SLANT
       SLANT
And don't talk about me in Spanish
   nor look for you in Appendix B
and word play and soundscapes
   sorry phonemes don't matter
after second grade
     What you need is a grammar to argue
like the White Man.

But

BE the Soot
that darkens your wings

let your Colors sing
clouds of culture
  raining upon
our bland
    white
          world

F*** Typica