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You call me black and point your fingers accusingly

As if that alone declared me a criminal conclusively
Black, like the dirt you scrape off the boots of a hard day’s work

And you head home leaving behind a grotesque cirque

But I wasn’t dirt or the scum of the earth

I come from a long line of good soil

Nourishing those around me who forever toil

to make a copper’s worth

My feet firmly planted in the realities of this world

like the roots of a great oak tree

whose branches reach toward the sky proclaiming world peace

Supporting the hummingbirds who fly with small wings

Whose determination is farther than you can ever see

Yeah you’ve cut down this great tree

Go and wash the speckled black dust off your wrists

Rest assured you’ve done your part

You played your role and hid in the comfort of your home

Thinking there’s one less of me to roam

Mother earth embraces me now

And the world disavows

Of your cowardly actions you hide from now

I’ve been absorbed by the earth

This is a moment of rebirth

An awakening in the rustling trees

Who are firmly planted in this reality

Whose branches reach for world peace

Despite the smoke and strong wind

Despite the axes that chop us down

You see I’m not just one tree

But a forest of a million more like me.

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© Sara Febles

This poem was inspired by the tragic event that occurred a year ago in Ferguson. I am re-posting it today because I turn on the news to find yet another young man or woman at the foot of police brutality, racial profiling, racism, and deeply ingrained ignorance. I am re-posting it today because, once again, society reveals how mercilessly it attacks victims of abuse instead of seeking an honest justice. I am re-posting this for all of you affected, though it’s not enough, may you find hope and strength in my words.

  Photography by Aneta Evanova