Cruelly Crippling
I turn left. around the corner and down the steps, because that way is always empty. I'm not ready for my roommate just yet. I'm not ready to be around any people just yet.
I know what it is like to be feared. It's not as glamorous as movie mobsters or Mr. Bond make it seem. or at least no one has ever been afraid of me in that way, afraid of my power. The type of fear I have seen is the uncontrollable kind, the first reaction, clutching your belongings, frantically searching the horizon with wide eyes, with quickened steps and breathing. I know what it's like to be in this drama cast as the object of fear. the darkness that plagues anyone, it first exists in closets and under beds, the fury held in an un-holy, un-knowable shadow.
Why? I never asked to be cast in this role. I didn't do anything for it. I was simply born and over time grew into a man. A young black man.
To You: I am sorry for your fear. I know it's not unfounded: horrible things do happen to people. But, I am just walking. I did not ask to be the embodiment of your fear. I can't do anything about the darkness. I cannot make this black night any lighter, or brighten the burden of your fears, and i cannot (and this I know for certain) change my skin.
Signed: B. Fluker, The Lover of Inquiry
I know what it is like to be feared. It's not as glamorous as movie mobsters or Mr. Bond make it seem. or at least no one has ever been afraid of me in that way, afraid of my power. The type of fear I have seen is the uncontrollable kind, the first reaction, clutching your belongings, frantically searching the horizon with wide eyes, with quickened steps and breathing. I know what it's like to be in this drama cast as the object of fear. the darkness that plagues anyone, it first exists in closets and under beds, the fury held in an un-holy, un-knowable shadow.
Why? I never asked to be cast in this role. I didn't do anything for it. I was simply born and over time grew into a man. A young black man.
To You: I am sorry for your fear. I know it's not unfounded: horrible things do happen to people. But, I am just walking. I did not ask to be the embodiment of your fear. I can't do anything about the darkness. I cannot make this black night any lighter, or brighten the burden of your fears, and i cannot (and this I know for certain) change my skin.
Signed: B. Fluker, The Lover of Inquiry