A Black man is born
not expected to thrive
disposable in ’Nam
not expected to survive
In the bushland encampment
he bled the same red
shed tears of sorrow
when his brothers returned dead
Heard their mothers’ screams
hoped for a safe return
yet the privileged alongside him
had a different reason to yearn
For their welcome home
heroism was revered;
those who looked like him—
the n-word they’d still hear
Treated as subhuman
he toils fiercely to earn less
his soul roughened at its edges
must persevere in righteous quest
Restrict him to the ’hood
deceptive paths down which he’s led
send him to the slammer
where he’ll find his unseemly bed
Emancipation? False liberation—
no glory, just strife
as he’s stripped of the prospect
to forge a purposeful life.
Michelle Smith is an award-winning poet and writer. Her essays have appeared in The Sun and Ms. Magazine. A member of the Authors Guild and the Dramatists Guild, her monologue Ode to Jesse was performed in 2024 in collaboration with an award-winning choreographer. Her awards include First Place for humor prose in the 2021 SouthWest Writers competition and First Place in 2024 for poetry. She earned high recognition in the Writer’s Digest 2023 Poetry Competition and the 2019 She Writes Press and SparkPress Toward Equality in Publishing novel competition. You can find her at www.theebonyquill.com and on instagram at thequillster.
the Decolonial Passage 