Awaiting For A Black History Date Poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

Those awaiting for a Black History date,
To express their appreciation...
For contributions their own kind make.
Are those trying to find,
Approval for these acts.
That had been laid and placed in past decades...
For the chance to enhance and romance,
Deeds done to eliminate...
The sweat endured to produce the facts.

And how can a 'Black History'...
Take just a few days,
To confirm any of that?

To gather to celebrate the lives of these folks...
Should be done on a daily basis.
And not when just provoked.
Or joked when adorning attire...
Meant to invoke a connection that inspires.

It is difficult to live each day as it is...
In a society that has done its best,
To disavow the truth as it is lived.

And taking one month to proclaim one's identity...
Seems a waste of time.
When people rather wine and dine.
Especially if thoughts are not carried around...
With a discipline within that is deep down.
Or with an integrity that does not disappear...
Before Spring has yet to begin!
And the Winter cold and snow...
Has from steps safely cleared.

'I'm Black and I'm proud! '

No doubt.
But...
When?
What time of the year?

And what are you wearing...
Before those thoughts of yours,
Come to an end.
Hmmm?