Smiling at black people
When I’m walking
down the street
I like to smile
at black people
don’t you? That
warm cuddly
puppies and babies
smile. To let them
know I’m friendly.
Guilty. Sorry.
It’s all been a
really bad joke
huh? I’m nervous.
I’m angry. Not at
you but me but you
remind me that I
hurt you and now
I hurt too and that
you will never be
sorry for me.
-Kim Irwin
Draft © 2005 K. Irwin All Rights Reserved
2 comments:
I find this poem to be very touching in the way in which it reaches for understanding between human beings. I am reading Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man (which I read years ago). This time I am feeling such great pain and a sense of great frustration at how the narrator is looking for understanding and not getting it!
I think this poem is aiming toward understanding - a worthy objective.
Can you tell me how to get in touch with Kim Irwin?
Does she have an agent I can contact? A web page with a contact form?
Post a Comment