Written by Angela Riddick. All material posted by Poetic Mustard Seeds is protected by copyright.
while you were
toiling in the fields
building tracks
and the buildings
that grace this America land
you had to put your emotions
on the side
and man up
your sensitivity
towards me
was wrapped in total survival of self
so that
you could return to me
you endured stripe upon stripe
to keep you in line
as time moved on, the egotistical pressures of life
surmounted
laced with watching me move
from the big house to the corporate board room
but sweetheart …
my dear sweet heart of the black man you are
many of you are still in survival mode
the whip of manhood in all its many forms
continue to beat you down
but we is free to some degree
so today
i need both the man up and the man down
the man up …
so that you are responsible for your own meals
because the Word says
those who don’t work, don’t eat
i also need
the man down …
so that you will let me in …
emotionally
Why?
so that
we, my sweet
can
experience true freedom
as one flesh
connected by the fluidness
of all of our emotions
i do not need or want you
emotion-less
i need you and want all of you with all of your emotions
because
my dear sweet black man
they are
safe with me.
