​Annalise Barber

in response to nell irvin painter.

i am a multicolored mass of cells,
a Black body in a white (White) space.
where the ONLY signs are absent,
the slogans

endure. though exhausted, i emerge
from four years of make-america-White
again, originally war-on-drugs,
originally separate-but-equal,
originally jim crow,
originally

terrorism. White fists wave
a red and black flag at the capitol.
no rubber bullets, no tear
gas. they ask,
where

are the cops. this summer,
we asked,
why are the cops here?
why can’t they let us

live and feast
at langston’s table
without directing us back
toward the kitchen?

and will it be my name,
my brother, my aunt,
my friend, your son
on the signs next summer?

hand me a White space
to sculpt into a blank page,
and i will write,
i matter.