Jessica Care Moore
Black Ice
Black Ice
we slippery, invisible
our freedom is frozen
cracking like leather whips
under your feet
there is a winter weather advisory
in the south
they are running
out of salt!
there is a police radio advisory
in the south
they are running
out of cotton!
no more fabric to support the confederate
so now the black kids can’t wear fubu to school
let’s design a nation from red dye and yellow # 5
let’s teach the children how to lie
let’s make the truth real hard to find
there is a fire storm advisory
in the south
they are running!!!
out of reasons
to burn the books and wave the flags
we can’t walk through the snow
when icicles dance inside our shoes
that’s why daddy always seemed so cool
why the hot comb burns were a rights of passage
why god allows rain to turn to acid
& devils night fires never burned down my crib
why a summer longing never forgets the winters end
there is a thunderstorn warning
in the south
they are running!!!
out of water
to blast the fish people on the street
the niggas have turned to mermaids
their blood is a river of riots swimming
inside the sidewalk
bits of salt - blood fill the city ocean
the urban middle passage
laced with stolen beats & mtv pocketbooks
there is a starvation alert
in the south
black mothers are running
out of spices, salt, and water
they can not cook and their sons are dying
they have greens to clean and they don’t own any grass
their daughters are being born, already raped
innocense was exchanged for their eyes
so now they can’t see themselves in the future
today an estimated one million blind black girls
are afraid to leave their block
there is a tornado warning
in the south
black people are running!!!
in circles at the speed of light
twistin’ and shoutin’ and dancin’
around the death penalty
genocide is leveling the homes
of the black middle class
the ghetto is no longer a geographic location
the deaf wind is flying into our naive right ear
and out the liberal liars left
you think hiding in the basement
behind velvet rope couches
will save you new niggas?
there is a national time warning
in the south, black people are
running backward
sankofa style, moon walking
with dry sticks burning their palms
toward their forever chriogenic history
5-year olds are hitting their teachers in the head
with rubber bands and demanding african centered curriculums
in all public schools
in detroit, south africa, medina green, oakland
in atlanta, chicago, harlem, the children of brazil
are running for shelter
we are running in search of an unbetrayed earth
we are running from the weather our ancestors created
and we still haven’t found a safe place
to drive down 85 south
without sliding on our elusive legacy
hiding inside patches
of invisible black ice
