Afloat
When I start to drown in waves of stagnation and complacency
When I don’t feel like writing this poem
And you don’t feel like reading
When the feet I used to march with start to buckle under me
What will keep me afloat?
When the anger subsides
When the hatred becomes too heavy for my heart to bear
When the tears dry up, and all I am left with are memories
Memories that remind me of who I am
But leave me with scars every time I try to hold on to them
Like pieces of a broken mirror
What will keep me afloat?
When the cameras are gone
When they still paint the town red with our bodies but no one is there to see it
When companies can no longer find a trend to profit off my pain
What will keep me afloat?
When the allies who don’t look like me suddenly seem to catch a case of amnesia
When the fear of being silent on social media just isn’t as compelling for them anymore
When they take off the lenses of white guilt and can no longer see me as human
What will keep me afloat?
When they exchange the kente cloth with a white mask
When the same hands that were raised with us in solidarity won’t work to sign the laws that we demand
When I start to lose my voice because my cries for help are falling on deaf ears
What will keep me afloat?
When the wheels of hurt and frustration just don’t seem to turn anymore
When these woke eyes get tired of reading hashtag after hashtag after hashtag
When the currents of rage and pain just aren’t as strong anymore
What will keep me afloat?
What will keep me afloat, you ask?
Well, let’s see
Throw me into the ocean just like my ancestors, but this time watch me defy the laws of gravity
Watch my confident hope hold me up as I follow the footsteps of the One who leads me
Watch me moonwalk on water as He uses his nightlight to control the push and pull of the tides to ensure my safety
And when I reach the shore and I’m met with another sea
A sea of mountains colored red
Watch this mustard seed rearrange landscapes
Watch His staff split apart rushmores
And I will walk through this valley of dry bones
I will fear no evil
He prepared a table before me in the presence of these MAGA hats, and I will speak
I will speak a prophetic message
One that resounds louder than the sound of their bullets
One that shatters their glass ceilings
I will speak a message of life, light, and love
One that is patient
One that bears all things, one that believes all things, one that hopes all things, one that endures all things
I will speak a message that goes like this…
When I start to drown in the waves of stagnation and complacency
When I don’t feel like writing this poem
And you don’t feel like reading
When the feet I used to march with start to buckle under me
What will keep me afloat, you ask?
My faith.
Yes, my faith will keep me afloat.
“Faith is, essentially, an attitude rather than an act; it is that which lies behind the act. Faith is an attitude of dependency, of recognized weakness. Faith is coming to the end of ourselves and looking outside ourselves—away from ourselves. Faith is that which gives God His proper place.”
