Brother! Poem by Shar Thompson

Your eyes watched as my chained body is dragged across the great sea.
Brother, it's me!
Your whips and fist blazed down on my flesh,
and peeled my skin until it bleeds.
Brother, it's me!
You erased my name, my inheritance, and my history in hopes that freedom should never again be free!
Brother, it's me!
You slaved my body in the fiery sun. You hung me like strange fruits on a tree.
Brother, can you not see that it's me?
You stole my breath, my descendants, my dreams, even my hopes and dignity.
Brother, it's me!
You warred against your own kin, betrayed your own blood, your own neighbors for your mutiny!
Brother, it's me!
When I was free of your chains and whips, you cried for segregation and incarceration and compounded your cruelty.
Brother, it's me!
You built concrete walls to cage my body, my mind, my self-esteem, my legacy!
Brother, are you so blind? That you cannot see, that it is me?
You denied my rights, my education, my home, my peace. Your hate was your only generosity.
Brother, it's me.
When your kins stood up and marched for all that is good and right, you would see them die before seeing me free.
Brother, oh brother, it is me, it is me.
Brother, you can no longer shackle, buy, sell, hunt, kill, lynch, torture, torment, or deny me.
Brother, I'm here to soar, roar, live, learn, love, breathe, and be all that I can be!
Brother, it's undeniable that I am redeemed! I claim it!
Brother, humanity has risen and taken a new flight to new heights!
Brother, We have joined on one accord, one unity, one race, one world!
Brother, I stand eye to eye, neck to neck shoulder to shoulder with every creed.
Brother, you are redundant, antiquated, and archaic with a rusted and rotted heart!
Brother, your un-remarkable spirit has faded to inconsequence.
Though you are useless and forgone,
my hand stretched out to pull you from your infested abyss, your diseased conscience, and your self-induced purgatory,
BECAUSE you are my brother!
Although you could not see me...
BROTHER, I SEE YOU!