Black Poetry : To My Deserving Brothers, I Bow

Because we all should give
Each other one’s “flowers”
While we yet live
I can not wait
Til some later date
So I must tell you, my Brotha
Right NOW
Just HOW
I BOW
To you …….

When all the world sees only the televised robberies, murders, and drug raids
In divers places with faces that look like YOURS
You SHATTER the Black Man Criminal Stereotype
Every time you walk through those corporate doors.
So, to you, I bow.

And when you go out every working man’s day
On your LEGAL, Blue-collar, 40-hour hustle
Striving to stay ahead of the pack
In the rat-race of Life’s grind & bustle
ALSO, to YOU, I bow.

When she tries to push you to your limit
With some silly, insecure “test-you” MESS
That you would have BEAT another man down for LESS
But, you STILL won’t put your hands on her
And choose, instead, to walk away and DEFER
Your reaction until later
With your maturity, the evident greater
To you, my brotha, I bow.

And when conversations get heated, and she’s running off at the mouth
Not knowing when to keep SILENT or when to just let some sh*t GO
You still won’t disrespect her by calling her a “silly-@** hoe”
Or even when the urge may, seemingly, burn and ITCH
You still won’t debase her
By calling her, RIGHTLY or WRONGLY, some “dumb-@** *****”
So, to you, my brotha, I bow.

When all around you hear nothing but woeful cries
About dead-beat dads and “Oh, how he treated me so BADLY!”
But you NEGATE the “All Black Men are Dogs” Myth
Because you embrace, provide for, and love your seed
And you do it NOT out of legal obligation but, oh-so, GLAD-LY!
Also, you do it not for recognition but because it’s RIGHT
Because THEY are your first priority, your peace and your delight!
To YOU, I bow.

When all SOME women seem to want is a foul-mouthed, wont-work, lazy SLUG
And all you can muster to do is shake your head and just shrug
At the WASTE of time, love, and LIFE they offer to a jail-bird Thug
While YOU, a decent, GOOD Man who’s REALLY “holding it down”
Gets passed over for a sloppy-second, sorry, sagging-@** clown
Well, you just keep on, my brotha.
There IS a Queen out there who’ll TAKE less than she’ll BRING
Just remember, you can’t turn a hoe into a housewife
And you can’t get STEAK at BURGER KING!

So, when times seem tough, my brothas,
Just know that I am a Sistah who has your BACK!
When all around you is nothing but BANNERS
Proclaiming all the many faults of Black men and how much they LACK

Trust and believe, that I KNOW as surely as the rising and setting of the sun
That you are NOT, comprehensively, what some may say you ARE
That every day you press forward to, not just set but RAISE, the BAR
For yourself and for those who come after you
You’re an asset to yourself AND to society
And, I just thought, today, I’d share MY view
So, to you, my Brothas, I BOW.

What "they say" highlights so much negative, but we know that the positive exists in abundance. Those many who are deserving will appreciate your words poetess, for there is such strength in them.

CB



i love my Black Queen sistas with the same vigor

it's tough for both of us

i appreciate you recognizing it ain't easy


peace

and i bow to you CB
for this work

Wow, and yes sis. Taken from his rib, what else could we possibly feel. We must bow, and give respect when it's due. We're surrounded by diamonds in the rough, as long as we know it, then they can never forget it, cause we... won't let them. This write was beautiful and inspiring, and I couldn't have said it better myself. Bless and respect! Write on!