#BlaPoWriMo: I am not an invasive species

I am not an invasive species
that you can squash under
your boot like a bug, that you
can strip from the brush like
a perennial vine consuming
your crops, a stain you can
eradicate from your white
picket-fence neighborhood.
If God made man on the sixth
day, breathed the breath of life
into the dirt and rose His image
and likeness from the dust, then
why do you treat me as if I were
the slithering serpent come to
tempt you? Why do you crush
my head when all I did was bow?

© 2023 Nortina Simmons

Written in response to a disturbing and infuriating story I read recently about a little Black girl whose “frightened” White neighbor called the police on her because she was doing a science project.

I’d really like to know what about my existence threatens you so much? It’s got to be a disease, and it’s killing us. But thank God this little light was saved.

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Welcome to Day 7 of Black Poetry Writing Month (aka BlaPoWriMo)! BlaPoWriMo is a month-long challenge to write a poem every day during the month of February (Black History Month) related to Black history, Black people, or the Black experience.

Today’s optional prompt is: Write a poem that demands to be seen.