Velvet Black

H. W. Bryce

Velvet black
Her skin glistens in the sun
Her face beauteous as a smile
Yet her gait is cautious
And her eyes are wary
She’s been down this path before.

Bark white
His skin tightens in the sun
His thin lips hide a vicious smile
His stride is strong and aimed
His hooded eyes asquint
He’d walked this path before.

Their paths converge
She finds no way around
He clips her as he cuts her off
And mutters “Dirty whore”
He strides on without a destiny
They’d been along this path before.

Pieshell blanks
Their skin full and flush in sun
Pudgy faces turn away
Their pace increases fast
Their eyes avert at once
They’ve seen this pathway waltz before.

Velvet black skin
Soft as the angel’s soul
She’s absorbed the filthy stares
She’s worn the barbarous barbs
She’s asked God why hate runs deep
She cries herself to sleep.

Bark white skin
Can’t seem to help himself
Old habits hard to break
Hate was taught when he was young
He cries to sleep but sleep won’t come
For sleep then treads a diff’rent path.

Some people stare, some people glare
Some sniff and some of them even bark
Each rejection is a hurt
And if the velvet skin reacts
She is shouted down
Some people tread the same path every day.

Bark white
Rough as his manners are
He’s struck her now a hundred times
But she just soldiers on
He thought he heard her say
“Forgive him for he knows not what he is.”

Velvet black
Has suffered slings and arrows long
But she clings tight to her beliefs
She holds to dignity and peace
She takes the path more steep
And she sleeps the angel’s sleep.
— —
My simile/analogy on this is that the Alzheimer’s patient is similarly bombarded, from the outside and from the inside, with similar slings and arrows, is similarly hurt, and also deserves to sleep like an angel. Discrimination is discrimination wherever it is found.
Special thanks to CJ for the inspiration.

CREDIT: https://pixabay.com/en/rose-plants-flowers-nature-woman-316333/