I understand
Because:
The girl,
who was let out of school early
for the festivity held around a sycamore tree in the Jim Crow South,
may still be alive
I often wonder
— If she is still alive—
how does she remember
the black body hoisted up and burned;
its organs cut off and offered
souvenirs to be framed on a mantle
in some mansions there
I understand you
because:
Then
— a hundred years after abolishing two centuries of slavery—
that was okay
I understand you because:
In a dusty card box in the basement of some old bookstore,
there might still be some postcards under the label of “lynching,” banned now
But then,
that was okay
I understand you because:
On Edmund Pettus Bridge,
Salma police’s clubs echoed loudly on students’ backs;
their helmets and shields glistened proudly in the sun
and then,
that was okay
I understand you because:
For 12 years— less than one hundred years ago—
shaved-headed Jews were paraded on the streets
Spectators watched and chanted
and raised their arms in a salute to a madman
And while human flesh burned,
in the camps next door,
the neighbors sunbathed in their backyards;
their skin speckled with ash
But then,
that was okay
I understand you because:
Only 34 years had passed
since Mandela served 27 years in prison
Before that,
Original Africans could not vote
or own a home on their land
But then,
that was okay
The prison was only shut down in 1996!
I understand you
Because:
Seven decades after it was abolished
“Untouchability” continues to be practiced in India
Dalits still die of asphyxiation
cleaning sewers with their bare hands
It took wars
riots
and many dead
before someone started repeating
that was not okay
until it wasn’t
I understand
you do need time
to see the light
And we
— until then—
shall persevere.
