I pray that when my daughter grows up, she
will live in a world where she owns her body,
where she can lift her voice and sing praises
to a God above without fear of machine gun fire,
where her choice of spouse is not dictated by how
many seats are occupied in the Supreme Court,
where she will be challenged because of her mind
and not because of the kinks and coils atop her head,
where she will never have to unload funeral caskets from yellow
buses, where she can send her children to school and expect
them to be taught the same histories she learned as I:
I have a dream; let freedom ring; we shall overcome.
I pray my daughter will grow up to live in a world where
she will be free at last from a history doomed to repeat.
© 2023 Nortina Simmons
We’ve reached the last day 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.
Thank you so much for following along! Although I missed a few days, I’m happy that I was able to stick through to the end and not allow writer’s block to get me down. So I hope you enjoyed my poems and that you were inspired by the prompts. If you missed any, click here to read all BlaPoWriMo posts from this year and years previous.
And for the final optional prompt: As you reflect on your life experiences and/or current events related to race relations and other social issues, write your own version of “I have a dream…”
Nortina's Writing Inspiration Well 