It is winter
I shall don my jumper
Eat warming foods
Because in winter
That is what I do
The sun is rising
So too shall I
A cup of coffee
Check the news
These daily things
Are what makes I …I
The news is full of racism
And riots
I’m not a racist
I vehemently deny it
I am appalled at what has happened to George Floyd
I take my coffee without sugar
Have done for years
I don’t think about it
As I make a cup
Just the way I like it
Don’t consider
For a minute
Rethinking
Anything about it
Digging deeper
Why do I drink it like this?
I just do
Haven’t thought about racism
Either
As it pertains to I or you
Didn’t think I was – never have been
Yet what other patterns lay deeply submerged
Where I can’t see them
A history of a country
All that came before I
How I was raised
What was taught to I
I haven’t thought about any of this for awhile
What do you subconsciously believe I?
Are you milky white?
Clean as clean?
Let’s dig a little deeper
See what any of this means
For me
I don’t hate and I’m not mean
But that’s not what racism truly is
That’s what hatred is
Racism is thinking about someone according to their skin colour and ethnicity – it’s about pigeonholing
It’s about blindly stereotyping
It’s about segregation of thought according to where someone is from
What they look like
It’s books and covers
It’s subtle
It’s deep
Racism is so much more than we think
And we need to think about it
A hell of a lot more than we think
*And it’s not just racism – it’s wherever we collectively group people – gays, lesbians, trans, females, males, species –
Because plural lacks the subtlety, the humanity, the soul
Of singular
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