Colors

By Sheldon Johnson

Blue skies, Green pastures

Black clouds, Beige grams.

Yellow daffodils blossom from

Purple rains and the sweat of

Melinated hues.

Ebony stones and

A Whitewashed face.

Clear tears of Jade envy

From Blackmailed hate.

Dark-hearted from Chalky outlines

Souls lost in an

Interstellar Milky way.

Ten million found unity in Red clay . . .

Sand blasted Pyramids confirm

They have forever been led astray.

Black Cat bad luck?

Why not Black streaks on a Brindled dog?

A stampede of consumers

On a Black Friday.

A Translucent temper followed by

A Black whimper in Ferguson.

A glorious portrayal of serenity . . .

Speckled by Coal emissions.

Snow White lies drift like Manna

From a Silvery sky.

But with hair like wool

And Copper skin

Was Jesus just another European guy?

Was it Black magic

That led the way for Harriet’s escape?

Was it a great White hope

That introduced the Natives

To small pox. Azure waters

And Mahogany docks?

Olive leaves in Hazel trunks!

Permanent White stains

On Slate Gray dumps.

The Black HOOD-IE . . .

That left Trayvon slumped

Amongst RAINBOW skittles.

How ‘bout

The Chrome guns and Black talons

From “Car 51”

That left Sean Bell’s widow

In an Inky suit.

Instead of a matrimonial White one.

Diverse hues of Faun and Camel,

Caramel and Chestnut

Camouflage Iraqi soldiers

While dust filled tears streak

The Cocoa faces of Iraqi mothers

Black love once superseded all others

Now, it’s Black on Black crime

Batson juries

Federal grants and the clangin’

Of Blue steel gates.

Green uniforms that radiate

Ice Blue hats.

Sapphires and Emeralds for the

Price of Crimson blood!

While one White Hope diamond

Brought clarity

To Sierra Leone’s abysmal disparity.

Cinnamon freckles

On a Frosty judge

In a Jet Black robe

Left a “Man Child”

In a promised land: BROKEN

Alone, with an Electric White temper

Contemplating the square inches

Of a DOCCS cell forever!