Eight poems on Blackness, inheritance, and survival.
Black
You cannot run your fingers through my Hair
A scalp massage would be lovely though
Please go ahead Dear – Don’t let me interfere
Hot combs, relaxers and texturizers – Phew
Manageability by heat and chemicals too
Braids and weaves – OUCH! No more please
I cannot view my Hair from your perspective
Listen you! This Hair of mine is not defective
Being introspective has led me to a new objective
It’s time. I’m going Natural – Do you! Hair
From this day forward, I do thee swear
To love and take care of my Natural Hair
Ladies …
Here and there. However you choose to wear
Please go ahead Dear – Don’t let anyone interfere
The Ongoing Rebellion of Spring Cleaning
I remember my Grandmother
Shaping my nose
Straightening my hair
Getting burns from hot combs
I overlooked how much imprinted
Centuries of devaluation inherited
Infused into my psyche
The things I thought of others like me
This isn’t a confession to absolve myself
Trying to fit the mould hurts
It’s physical… at first
—
I used to be a hoarder
Of negative ideas
Of having nothing to offer
Shrinking in the process
Becoming less and less
Diligently…
I’ve been spring cleaning
Mindful of what I tell myself
Now sitting with this last pile of garbage
Ready for a proud demonstration
Of defenestration
Fractal Spiral
I live ABOVE
your biases
your racist ideals
I navigate BETWEEN
your micro-expressions
and your micro-aggressions
Travelling quantum leaps BEYOND
your … infantile comprehension
I transmit on FREQUENCIES
your brain cannot decipher
So I get, but I will never excuse
your mis-conceptions
your mis-impressions
and your dis-perceptions
When surprised by Me
At what I am capable of …
I am
the Love you didn’t expect
the Truth you always neglect
I am
Pure Artistry
backed by experience
I am
Non-traditional Intelligence
Cosmic Kinship
Pure Neuroalchemy
Asymmetry
Before and Under the Law
… Yes, and what does it mean to be human?
It depends on who you ask.
In a world ruled by moral relativism
My equality will always be called into question
Are there any Objective Truths?
Any Moral Absolutes?
If I am to be equal
Before and under the law
Without discrimination based on race —
Where does
Overpolicing, Underrepresentation
And Systemic Racism come from?
Was the Charter written for people like me?
Or … was I automatically,
A “reasonable limit”?
My equality: not absolute
Subjected to suspension and reinterpretation (by whom)
Who is addressing the gap between promise and practice?
… Yes, and what does it mean to be human? Equal?
It depends on who you ask.
Lifted
The sudden
Destabilizing nature
Of being called a “nigger”
When spewed with
Vitriol and contempt
Or as normal indifference
I inhale the stinging
Sour, stifling air
And continue in slow motion
Buffering, absorbing
The abuse
Of undeserved hate
Wishing I were immune
To surprise attacks From out of nowhere
When for days
I carry the impact
But
With a crown of
Gravity-defying hair
And a reinforced heart
Supported by my Elders
Lifted by Ancestors
I crowd surf
The Chains that Bind Us
… and
if only i could
if i were to
relive
this life
i
would not be a slave
beholden to the plutocracy
expecting appreciation
for the scraps you gave me
squeeeezed into a holding cell
Humans
Africans
classified as Cargo
chained
crouching room only
the lucky ones
dying before me
400
confined
to the lower deck
chained
branded
palm oil soothed
sleeping on the right side
to save space
for more
sailing through
surrounded by two months of
lingering
despair
vomit
terror
excrement
sweat and
prayer
breathing in diseased air
malnourished but desired still
receiving unwanted sexual advances
from officers and crew
Cargo
thrown overboard
if infectious or too sick
to continue
worth
less than the salt water that claimed Us
a drop in the ocean – useless
the slavers forsake Us
not knowing
what is beyond the horizon
but knowing
by how We are treated
Our destinies intertwined
determined, decided
by the
aristocracy
this cannot be
denied love
humanity
dignity
taken care of
but only well enough
to ensure premium payment
Choice Cargo
We receive
sunshine in shifts
made to dance
by the beat of the whip
We entertain – still
sold
as if We were cattle
Kin chopped up
on the
auction block
Families butchered
my brothers’ life
reduced to seven years
working the sugar fields
assignment to an early grave
your constructed concept of race
spurious
designed to justify your disgrace
and you continue
shame on you
full of your meretricious
non-introspective self
unaware of your perpetuated ignorance
you and your far-right associations
and anyone who is anti-Black too
YES! I am talking to you
fear propels your pernicious, injurious learned behaviour
although you would never admit it
but it is within your power to
unlearn it
and now
I am
contumacious
Because by colour
i am
a
law-abiding criminal
by colour
We – who once were slaves
and remain less than
but only to you
with your myopic views
you cannot behold Us
all that is left for you to do
is to try to insult and control Us
to put Us in that old place
clinging to the dredges of
your banal, anachronistic
social constructs
you are a cliché
pustulous boils
on the history of humanity
Flag
In God we trust
The Birth of a Nation
Built on
Slavery
Subjuctation
and
Forced
Sterilization
Brave
In full glory
Home of the Free
(well … it’s supposed to be)
Freedom
Buckling
In this
Perilous fight
Under
The proudly held
Stars and stripes
Flag
As a call for
Equal Rights
Or the other
To maintain
The Southern way of life
Brave
In full glory
Home of the Free
(well … it’s supposed to be)
In the terror of flight
There’s nowhere to run
Even in
Freedom
Lynching Postcards abound
Mobs gather
Watching Black Bodies burn
Texas-style
Upcoming barbecues
Make
The evening news
No refuge could save
The next Free Slave
From
The Dogwood Tree
(one of many)
Know your place
Poetry
Works both ways
Hanging
In full glory
Home of the Free
(well … it’s supposed to be)
History’s imposition
The future’s inquisition
More …
How many more to come
Before change is won
Standing brave
Notwithstanding
The gloom
Of the grave
An American horror
History
The future
Likely is
No mystery
Standing Brave
In full glory
Home of the Free
(well … we’ll see)
Right Ruin
What is going
to happen
when all the
Blacks
and the
Jews
and the
LGBTQs
are gone?
Along with the
Indigenous Folks
and the
many other
disenfranchised
Johns, Janes and Joes
Then who
will be up next
to the plate
to experience
hate?
In any of
its many
guises
Fit all!
One sizes!
Do you
have a
group
to
nominate?
Pre-dominate
It’s never too late
Barriers, real and imagined
Build!
Find a way
to justify
your hate.
Make up something
that carries great weight.
Ready to show?
Hopefully
we will
never
know
© 2026 Ociola Samantha Williams. All rights reserved.