These Brown Eyes Poem by yinka adeogun

Tell me what you see
when you look into these eyes?

Do you see past the brown iris,
and see what is hidden in plain sight?
Do you perceive the anguish and pain
wrapped up in loose foils of false bravado?

Or do you perceive a lonely voice,
yearning to be heard in a mad, chaotic filled world?

Do you see a lonely soul
floating like a ship without a rudder?

Do you see a young man yearning to make a mark in this world
or a black man swimming against the tides of society
that views people through race-coloured lenses
rather than their worth as individuals?

So tell me
what do you really see
when you look into these eyes of mine?