White Man’s Laughter

“White Man’s Laughter” is another poem that was written for a history class assignment, much like the poem posted yesterday. This time, I went for a free verse structure. Originally written in November of 2020.

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I experience pain,

Like I have never felt before.

I am sick to my stomach,

Blood mixed with vomit.

Vivid, vibrant blood

Violently spills

Out my violet veins.

White Man smiles.

I can’t speak,

I can’t scream,

I can’t think,

Or even breathe.

He only chopped off my hand,

But it feels like he shanked my stomach

And slit my throat as well.

White Man grasps my arm,

Beaming at the camera,

Proud that he had maimed my hand.

I do not understand

The violence of White Man.

This is betrayal,

We are the same species,

Right?

Taking the photograph

Is Other White Man.

He holds a gun,

Message clear:

If I move, he shoots.

My glossy blood gleams in the sun,

Dripping down White Man’s milk colored coat.

My knees control themselves,

My arms grow weak.

Stars twinkle in the daylit sky.

On a star stands my mom,

My dad and my siblings,

I only see a glimpse

Before my head floats backwards.

The last thing I hear

Is not the fatal gunshot,

But White Man’s laughter,

Faded and cruel,

As I lift out of my body

And run towards my mom.

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-Graphite Everything