#blacksays by Joshua Idehen

Black is tired.  Black would like  to make a statement:   Black is tired    Black’s eyes   vacant, arms   leaden, tongue   can’t taste shit   stomach cannot compress death.     Black would like   to state: Black is not  a beast of myth, slain  in a fable, recounted   on a roundtable by brave,   blue-collar men    Black has   demands: baton proof  bones and bullet   resistant skin     Black wrote   an article: 500 Years That Prove State   Approved Lynchings Should Go  The Way Of Dubstep   and    Black thinks   no person that trigger   eager deserves a gun   much less a badge     Black knows one day  its hands will go   up, its lips   pinned but its shadow   reaching for something   that’s not there   and that'll be enough          Black says   keep your 40 acres just    let Black reach the end   of the street just   let Black reach for the last  skittles sweet just   let Black reach into Black’s own   car let Black reach   into Black’s own lungs    Black doesn't want its   young ones seeing fathers die   on youtube                         Pausing halfway to keep   them alive. Black says   it’s always been like this          Black’s seen your grin    your grin is a pirate flag    Black’s hands bleed  from the knife edge   you offered on your side   of the handshake     Black is angry now    Black is in pain.     Black's nerves   are fireflies dancing   with grief, a curse-word   trapped in a bracket. A sentence  too intense for one   full stop. Black’s   pain needs…      Black’s sat in a room.   Lights off, candles out. Nothing fair or   fair skinned about Black’s   pain, Oh, Black knows   you commiserate, Black   knows you sympathise.    Black says you don’t understand, Black   says you   cannot compare, Black   says you   cant empathise, Black   says this   pain is too pepper, Black   says you   cannot digest, Black   says how   can you relate?    When these black   lips are this full and  these black knees   are this ashy and this black voice  is this loud and these black cheeks  is this round and this black skin   is this proud and this black skin   is this cocoa butter   shiny and this black   praise is dance, this black sorrow   is dance this black struggle   is dance this black   hair is nappy and balding   and weaved and balding  and thick   it’s so thick it’s so thick it’s   so thick it’s so thick it’s  So long like octopus   legs stretching over skies, blotting out   the sun, inking up the cotton   and the cocaine   And now Black's   emotions are a hurricane. And now Black’s   emoting from the Everest    Black says black has tried everything    Black has jived   with both hands,   breastfed your children   pulled its pants up,   learned to beg   in your language  laughed at your stupid, stupid jokes  eaten your terrible   rendition of jollof rice  stiffened its lips, bitten  its tongue to a nub,  Filled the corners of your self   adulation with its excellence   and now   Black wants to know   what else can it do?    Black is desperate now   Black’s brought all its children to the parking   lot, all its treasures  to the auction block. Black   says it’s willing to negotiate.    Black says give   Black some dignity   And Black will give you twerking  Black knows you love   hip hop. Black will   swap hip hop for a chance   to live on its feet. Black   says let Black have a safe   space with all of its friends and fam  and it’ll let you have first   place in the 100 metres final.   Get the Williams Sisters to quit   winning for a year    Black wants you   to know nothing   is off the table.    Black would do anything   for its humanity    Just let black be  Black says  Just let black be    – Joshua Idehen is a Poet, workshop facilitator, musician and founder of renowned poetry/music magazine Poejazzi. As a poet, he has performed at most major festivals, appeared in anthologies alongside Linton Kwesi Johnson. As a musician, he works in three bands: Benin City, HUGH and with electro dub outfit LV. He has gained accolades from Qmag, Artsdesk, Fact, Mojo, Clash, Mixmag, DJ and DIY. "Not My House", a new single by Joshua Idehen + LV, is out 11 May 2021.    "#blacksays" was shortlisted for the 2020 Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize for Poetry. Enter the prize here. Entries close 31 May 2021.