BLACK GLANCE

I saw a man today.
He greeted me with that
knowing look.
The one that says
I am surprised but
so happy to see you.
To know that I am
not the only one
Struggling out here.
I tried to respond in kind
But he didn't look back
to see my
Black Glance.

I wanted to tell him.
I wanted him to know.
I share in his loneliness
frustration & rage. At a society that
doesn't know us,
doesn't see us,
doesn't hear us.
So we acknowledge
each other with the
Black Glance.

That reassuring expression
of love and acceptance
That says though we
may never meet again
our souls shall always be
connected.
But he didn't see me.
That's how it usually works.
We must often retreat into
our expected roles
too quickly to see the
Black Glance.

So eager to please others
that we miss the
Black Glance.

Too ashamed to acknowledge
our need for each other
that we overlook the
Black Glance.

But we know.
We know its there
because the
Black Glance

has a life of its own.
An existence outside of
ignorance
self hate racism
denial
that will always
be there even if we don't
Glance Back
- written by yaya 08/01/07