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Poem: "Just Another Routine Check"
Poet: Dahlak Brathwaite
My rearview mirror reflects a blinding glare,
Into my eyes in through the tunnels of my pupils and I am scared,
Scared to death, out of breath, out of mind, but I wish,
I could be scared out of my skin and become the color of his,
This ain't on no "I hate my black ass" shit, I'm not "internally racist",
I love my black ass and that's why I'm thinking of ways to save it,
And as I'm breaking, red, white, and blue lights blaze the sky like it's the fourth day of July,
But it's not the fourth day of July, it's a Friday night in the winter,
F**k firecrackers, these crackers fire at niggas,
And outta the night, sirens blare, lights flare up, I'm scared, but now doubly terrified,
Since realizing not everybody is as scared as I,
So people's fear is a whole lot more subtle,
Like, "oh my god, my parents are gonna kill me",
I'm worrying about this cop saving my parents that trouble,
Cuz innately inserted into the the black subconscious are 3 kings,
Martin King, Don King, and Rodney King,
I can't tell the difference,
Good cop, bad cop, that one, this one,
All I think is black man trying to hit up the club,
Policeman trying to hit me with one,
And as I'm changing lanes, sweat drips like rain pours,
My head spinning like the sprewell's I'm too broke to buy, and too smart to pay for,
Ain't no way I could be a criminal cuz already I'm trippin picturing myself in a cell,
Thinking they finally got arrest warrants for them skittles I stole when I was twelve,
License? Check. Registration? Check. Sambo smiling while handing him my glow in the dark wallet? Check.
And check, it was just another routine check,
Check license, check plates, but most importantly, keep my ass in check,
And the hatred spread,
Our blind hate for them,
That's why "F**K THE POLICE" be our favorite hymn,
I know it's a vicious cycle but it ain't gon' end,
As long as they profiling us, we just gonna do the same to them
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