Fuck I Look Like
Jay DéliseIssue 21
Poetry
Fuck I Look Like
U.S. Code > Title 18 > Part I > Chapter 51 states: Murder is the unlawful
killing of a human being with malice aforethought. Every murder
perpetrated by poison, lying in wait, or any other kind of willful,
deliberate, malicious, and premeditated killing;
or perpetrated as part of a
pattern
or practice of assault or torture against a child or
children;
or perpetrated from a premeditated design unlawfully and
maliciously to effect the death of any human being other than him
who is killed, is murder in the first degree.
So, what I look
like?
Am I man, or myth? What will it be today? String me up right here Or let me
get down to the station first? Use my neck as your stress ball Need a
breath? Here take mine. I've been told that the sound of our backs breaking
is music to society’s ears. America says I'm it's slave And that I have two
options Here or in my cell
America says when I'm dead it's only three-fifths of a problem
America wants ‘yes Massa’, ‘no massa’ ‘I
sho don't wonts to make ya mad massa’
‘please Massa don't shoot massa’
What I look
like?
What would you like us to do? How do we
make America great again? And by great do
you mean we should go back
To the time it was simpler Bow
our heads down and whisper
Step off the sidewalk as you pass
And show you our papers?
America is supposed to be for all of us You know I've been searching for
proof of how this America is for all of us. Your ‘all of us’ seems to have a
clause Stained by the ash of our homes Beneath the remains of our
melting pot under the feet of our ‘protectors’ You can hear the last breaths
of my people Drowning in the blood of our children Hands raised You can
hear us crying out for someone Anyone To help us And you can hear this
You will hear this
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, -That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it.
Jay Délise is a US/UK based poet and performer creating in the combined world of theatre, poetry, and storytelling.
A native of the Jersey Shore, Jay is a published poet who has received national recognition for her writing. As a Scholastic Art and Writing Awards National Gold Key recipient, Jay has performed at locations such as Pratt University, The United Nations, The Schomburg Center, The Pulitzer Center, and Carnegie Hall. Audiences included familiar names such as Lin Manuel-Miranda, Agunda Okeyo, Kathy Najimy, Jessica Williams, Jill Dolan, and Abigail Disney. Her work has been highlighted around the world and in publications including Afropunk, Broadway World, Vagabond City, Glass Poetry Press, and Huffington Post. Her recent solo spoken word show Black, And...premiered at the Greater Manchester Fringe Festival in July of 2019 and was nominated for both “Best Newcomer” and “Best Spoken Word” at the Manchester Fringe Awards.
Jay is a poet and a teaching artist, but more importantly, she is black and magic.
