I want to raise her for
a world where...
please and thank you
matter
and
skin color doesn't.
A world where
nice is rewarded
and
people take turns.
I want her to be
polite
and kind.
I want her to be
patient
and giving.
I want her to share.
I want her to care.
I want to raise her
for the world I dream about
I want her to be
part of the solution
not the problem.
I want...
so much...
for her.
But we live
in THIS world.
Where
skin color does matter.
It can get you
killed
and your murderer
walks free.
Nice is seen as weak.
People don't speak.
And if you don't push your way in
you may never get a turn.
Sigh
I want her to be open.
I want her to be sweet.
I want her to give an equal chance
to each person she meets.
I want her to love peace.
I want to raise her
for the world I dream about
I want her to be
part of the solution
not the problem.
I want...
so much...
for her.
But we live
in THIS world.
So far from the one I dream about.
And although I love
my rose-colored glasses
I cannot,
for her,
deny
what
is.
This is a Mother's conundrum.
Dana Russell was born and raised in the Bronx, the birthplace of hip hop. Rhythm and rhyme were her first foods. Dana lives poetry. When she isn't doing all of the things associated with being Mother to a future boss she can be found performing at Ashford and Simpson's Sugar Bar. Dana wears her invisible tiara everywhere she goes and is known in the poetry world as HRH Dana. Don Quixote is one of her heroes and Dana spends an inordinate amount of time tilting at windmills and attempting to love the ugly, messy, beautiful world that we live in. More Dana: Web | Instagram | Facebook
