Poem submitted by Kendra Quinn // St. Louis. View original here.

How does it feel to be feared and hated by all nations,
Painted black by the world, but seen as pure by the creator?
I imagine it is painfully hard to be patient
As you walk through this life,
A whole people degraded
Conformity is the only way out,
But the sun rarely burns you.
How must you go about
Escaping a system that hardly concerns you?
You sit, wait, think, and pace,
To realize that you are running an endless race,
A race against time, until the end of time,
When all souls will have to meet the divine.
Privilege; those who posses it know not what it is,
Yet those who lack it, learn when they are kids,
To hate themselves and one another,
Growing up hopeless, their true identity smothered.
Oh what a burden, at such an early age,
The world does not care; so it puts you in a cage,
Away from society, away from your family,
To reflect on your life, in hopes to regain sanity.
What problem then does this solve,
Is it their insecurities you must resolve?
Who are you? Who are they? Who are we?
United we stand, divided we fall,
With a fate predetermined, your back is against the wall.
Will you fall at their feet to your own misery,
Or will you rise and be the dark angel you are meant to be?

Copyright Kendra Quinn