Epiphany

I have come to the realization
that as a woman of color
I will one day have
with the bittersweet blessing
to give birth to a beautiful black baby.
Only the third time
I have labeled something
bittersweet.

One day some half-human may
feel threatened
by the color of my child’s ancestry,
might feel compelled to “defend” themselves
or their neighborhood from the foreign
hue of their skin
forcing a mother like me
to say good-bye­
without remorse
without consequence.
Laws protect people like them,
but don’t allow us to

                                protect our children.

In order to ensure my child’s safety,
living in a gated community is not enough.
I may be better off giving in
to America’s stiff-arm approach
to water down my history
by marrying a white man
just to have lighter babies­–
saving them from someday suffering.

Every unborn child of color
is already an endangered species.
God’s gifts at risk of revocation
before they’ve even arrived.