I remember crawling out of the ocean Self-awareness and emotion
I remember the erosion Violently slow Like water corrosion No need for an explosion
I remember the erosion ... Of Family Culture and Language Dignity Of ... Hope and Autonomy Trust in Humanity
I remember the commotion The dogs and the hoses The brutality Ash From the burning crosses
Orchestrated hate Injected in overdoses Emanating And central ... to everything
Spectral
I remember holding onto the notion Things will get better They'll see me as Human Deserving ... Of The same privileges The same resources The same access The same presumption of innocence
The same ... The same ...
Still, I'm always under scrutiny They clutch their purses Watch me with suspicion
I wanna thrive But I'm only surviving
Alien My colour sets me apart Exposed to Oppression — Anger and Aggression I'm falling apart
Being a law-abiding criminal Hurts my heart Heavy with history I carry centuries in my chest This ache is ancestral I cannot divest
