CW - Violent Imagery
Ijeoma Chuku - poet.
“I have a poem about being black, and the desire to share my work and other people’s work, as most black creatives go without recognition.”
Bloodline
It’s my bloodline
One that doesn’t come with a deadline
There’s no end to my melanin
Or what I was born to carry within
I wasn’t given a handbook
I was expected to give up because of another overlook
I learnt that recognition isn’t their specialty
Well at least not for the black community
That’s why we’re here today
We’re creating our broadway
We’re making more space for us on the walkway
No more complicity, don’t let them downplay
The truth is what we intend to portray
We’re stepping over the halfway
No line of subjection is holding us back from what we aspire to convey
Catch and support us as we throw out our beautifully enriched black bouquet.
Spiralling round and round.
All around.
It’s around me.
It’s around me,
Can’t you see?
I see you see,
But you choose not to see me.
I can hardly breathe, me.
I can hardly sleep, me.
I can hardly see, me.
But I see you, you see?
This thing consuming me,
Won’t let me be.
Won’t let me free.
This thing I’m talking about, you see?
Has a heart laced full of debris.
This thing I’m talking about, you see?
It has a control key,
A command key,
You’d have to agree to disagree.
This thing I’m talking about, you see?
Is you, my Anxiety.