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Written after "Junior" for the Amy Biehl High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Delivered at their Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service on January 20th, 2014.
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Ageless (for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.) – by hakim bellamy
Written after "Junior" for the Amy Biehl High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Delivered at their Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service on January 20th, 2014.
How old were you
when you realized that
Black was your favorite color
because it was the absence of color
or so you were taught, in elementary school
even though it was right there
plain as day in the Crayola Box
how old were you
when your teacher started teaching you
not to see it
you made a habit of seeing things
things that other people would pretend not seeing
like crayons
and people
and dreams
all the things you really wanted to believe in
like the absence of color
and people
how old were you
when you fell in love with Star Trek
when you realized
the only people who could see the future in color, besides you,
were in spaceship on TV
how old were you
when you learned that two pieces of wood
can make a fire and a cross
on your front lawn
at the same time
how old were you when they stopped calling you Michael?
how old were you when they stopped calling you names?
how come we're never old enough?
how come it never stops?
how did 14 feel?
did 14 feel like 39 or Zero
when the bus driver made you give up your seat
did it feel like prodigy or payback
when you went to college at 15 so they'd stop calling you "boy"
how old were you when you realized
you wanted to be Ghandi instead of Governor
when all your peers
still wanted to be policemen
and you wanted to be a preacher
how many people can say
they had a president
phone them in prison
how big was that opening number
at the premier of Gone With The Wind
how bad did you want to sing it
and how old were you when you did
how much more fun is that than being shot at
and how come I love musicals too?
how come adrenaline is adrenaline
and we do what we gotta do
how old were you when
Pecan Pie became your favorite meal
when the ideal breakfast menu
consisted of cake and eat it too
how old were you when you decided starving
was the best way get your point across
when you decided sitting down at a lunch counter
and not eating
was the best way to stand up for yourself
how old were you
when you started crying for no reason
how old were you
when you discovered the monster under your bed
was really the FBI under your phone
when the breathing was real
and the voices were yours
how old were you when you tried to stop the voices
how old were you
when you saw the elephant
and realized your country
apartheid it out the room
what age were you
when your love
became a four letter word
and your skin, a profanity
that was impossible to clean
how old were you when
they told you
you were “too old” for imaginary friends
especially, when you imagined having friends a different color than green
how old were you when they decided you were old enough
and how old were they
when you decided you were too young to leave
how old were you when they told you
“Wake Up!”
stop dreaming
and even after you stopped breathing
we could still see it
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