In the shade
our shades are not so different
But with time
I wonder if that will change
I wonder if the golden
and the chocolate
of our browns
will cause a dividing of any kind
In your shade
You remind me of the joy erupting
In my shade
You remind me of molten wrath
People who don’t even know us
will try to separate us
in the light
in the shade
They started with your birth certificate
Silencing me on paper
Not even a comma
But I am there
shaded
in the space bar
in your curls
in your color
in the shape of you
In the shade of it all
Will we be related
Will it be allowed
When those in the gross darkness
Try to come for your light
and claim
your darkness is a sin
and a shame
and me
The shade they throw
Will you give it any more power
than I am releasing?