The Jabberwock

I was born starved
I went through a famine of attention,
praise and affection
From the moment I was born
I was already fully grown and alone
Bumped ends
Mary janes and a white dress
I would be your perfect church girl if I wasn’t robbed from that opportunity
Due to my sweet juice
I used to dream that my burnt ears and split ends from heat damage would go away
That my coily hair would be in someday
But nothing I can do will ever be considered feminine
My chance of girlhood was taken from me before my heart could beat

I was an exhibit
If I behaved well
Civil like and white
Because God forbid I acted my age
Maybe I’d get praised and told
“You’re one of the good ones”
As if I should be proud for not representing my glued together family tree
Made of paper mache
My sisters and brothers were united not by blood
But by the hatred from the world unjustly held for us
We all bleed the same shade but that doesn’t matter if our skin tone is not the same
My ego was bigger than my tiny body
They marched down the street in their white hoods
With violent intentions that were protected by those who said they preached love

They say I’ve flown too close to the sun
That my confidence will be my end
My overzealous behavior will perish when I stop dreaming and start living
But I refuse to be ruled by an enclosed sky
The sun will burn in my black chest
I will spew words that will burn coming out
I have an undying hunger for attention
The hole in my stomach will never be filled

As it swallows everything within its proximity
“Little girl fire burns don’t get yourself hurt, learn how to hold your tongue and shut up”
My wings have been clipped
But I will climb to the sun
Throw stones and slurs at me
But I refuse to be inferior to a world that hasn’t met me
I will be my own supremacist