Where I'm From

W H E R E   I’ M   F R O M   

i am from my mother’s womb,

product of love or lust.

i am from warm blankets of cotton,

teary eyes and hearts of trust.

i am the color of the dirt,

long forgotten in the sun.

i am from sit still,

the house is no place to run.

but I am also from be careful,

not everyone wants your best.

i am from the people,

most likely to get an arrest.

i am from the eyes

that bore holes in my back.

i am from the watch what you touch

over there, on the rack.

i am from the give up,

they’ll never learn.

i’m from the people,

who don’t deserve a turn.

i am from the ‘glass ceiling’,

and going nowhere soon.

i am from the rappers, gangsters, basketball players,

that’s all my people do.

i am from the drugs, the ghettoes,

talk white or black.

i am from the pants that sag,

and the low riding hats.

i am from nappy hair,

and a big nose.

i am from big butts,

and generic clothes.

i am from food stamps, bridge cards, and poverty,

i am from bow down to white supremacy and sovereignty.

i am from the beat down a lot,

violence, die young.

i’m from the criminals, dead and gone,

shootin’ guns.

i am from the ignorance and the locked up,

or locked down.

i’m from the man,

with another chick cross town.

i am from the single parents

that  demand child care

i am from the brotha’s and sista’s

stuck on welfare.

i am from the first to be accused

when the alarm goes off.

I am from Martin Luther King and

Rosa Parks in black history month.

i am from the sizzilin’ grease

and fried chicken.

i am from the fresh cut watermelon,

straight out the kitchen.

i am from the pipe dreams,

and broken families.

never gonna conquer this insanity.

i am from the looked down,

ignorant.

from the ones who ain’t nothin’

but illiterate.

i am from the stereotypes

like these.

i am from the bondage, slavery,

forget equality.

what’s liberty?

from a country who won’t accept me.

that does nothing but degrade me.

This is where I’m from.