[jem4water]

In my Year 10 English class we studied a few texts, but the one that stuck with me was Maya Angelou's 'I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings'. If you ever get the chance to read it, please do. I fell in love with it from the first page and still need to find a copy somewhere so that I can read it again. The title was taken from a poem called 'Sympathy' by Paul Laurence Dunbar. We were asked to write a poem in response to that, and this is what I came up with.

My Sire

Your hair is blonde and my hair is black,
Sky in your eyes but pastels mine lack,
Ruby red lips where mine seem to crack,
Perfect white skin but scars on my back.

Don’t you know what it is to be hated?
Your life written for you, your destiny fated?
With each single step your breath turns to bated,
How long, how long, how long have we waited?

For my skin is dirt, and your skin is china,
My body’s fuller but yours is much finer,
I must stand tall but you are the crier,
I am the servant and you are the sire.

[Mama Flame]

Brilliant! And I can relate to is as well

[Mama Flame]

And is this the poem you're referring to? poem

[jem4water]

Thank you, Mama.

And nope, that's not it, but it's by the same author of the book we read. The poem I meant waaaaaaas this one.

[lscje]

Excellent I love it. Very well done.

[Leafy07]

I love Dunbar's poems - especially 'We Wear the Mask'