racially speaking

the world
is of races
and is racist

now
how did we pull that off

I suppose because
we approach another people
ready
to take power
and impose it
as if
power were ours
and not lent from God
and for God’s judgment
later

I approach another color
and see
fascination
then
I hear it

but who am I
naïve
I guess
to find a thrill in meeting someone else
who clearly is not me

while racially I’m fine with me
but
I know my race and color
and here is someone who’s not me
whole
land’s worth
in fact
and isn’t that
terrific

and clearly as a world
we have not come
to feel that way
common
ancestry notwithstanding

and
could we not apply our art and science
our proclivities toward vision
our skills in
observation
with reception of each other based
on vision
sure
(and sure)
observation

goodness
there are stories
folks
of folks
and should that not be
grand occupation

that’s races
anyway
next
time maybe taking up religion

c l couch


I was looking for an image to accompany a verse on Gaza and, based on my selection, was shown all sorts of pictures of all sorts of people—the theme the site selected between them all was water—and the diversity, of the parts of our planet as well, got me thinking

photo by Dibakar Roy on Unsplash