The skies are blood red,
For someone has heard me,
My shame is no more,
For someone can see.
See the fatalities in their speech,
With every utterance they spew.
My bird now crawls and the worms grow wings,
For someone placed their gaze upon me.
I only saw this moment between realities,
between a stressful evening and a stressed morning.
The image that flashed before my eyes,
The image of days without mourning.
This moment was not like unto any other,
Yet it wasn't a kind of strange you flinch at,
It is a strange you linger on, swallow, and appreciate–
for you are full.
My belly, always empty, is now full–
For someone dared to harp onto what I had to say.
Toluwaleyi Meadows is 15 years old, lives in Detroit, MI, and moved there with his family in 2015 from Nigeria. He uses writing along with art to convey parts of his story, his experiences, and also as a form of activism. He uses spoken word poetry as well as speeches and other forms of public speaking to bring awareness to issues like climate injustice, racial injustice, and xenophobia.He uses art to convey his experiences visually, and prose to convey his journey through a creative lens. In "For Someone Placed Their Gaze Upon Me," I wanted to convey what it means to be unheard, especially in a society where certain voices are suppressed due to the nature of the person speaking.
"Red sky at night, sailor's delight" by kevin dooley is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
