Magnolia Poem by Nikia Tate

Father warms my ebony skin, My body aches, Leaves rustle above me, tears flow and are cooled by the breeze. Knees that briefly burned as I fell many times during the chase, that pain that I felt diminished, erased. Now I know a new pain, and though I can't see. I hear the voices, laughter, and the barks of the hounds that hunted me. Wrists bound, and feet far from the ground. It was hard to be invisible, in such a small town. I never asked why, or plead, you see. There was one thing that I could not let them take from me. As the darkness settled all around, it gave its child peace, my ancestors appeared and now we're finally free.