A token black male
Before a host of encroaching eyes
They comb, through the twists and turns
Of my locks

Suddenly I’m statuesque
An obelisk, inscribed with the psalms
Of proud forefathers

I’ll take heed of my treads
For one careless stumble
Could send me to the cliffs

Where I’ll fall through the centuries
Rattling, into fields of white
As Kemet burns
In the aft of my mind