you were meant to care
that’s why I’m here
this wasn’t my first choice for a bed
I would be anywhere else in the world
but I’m here with you instead
a condition
I happen to live with
that’s taken away a lot of bliss*
*but that’s another story
there’s no way
I would choose your halls
empty and cold
over the warmth of my home
a solace, my Rome
but that day, as you came to roam
rolling your eyes at my demise
as tears welled up in my eyes
being carried by people who hated you
who’d rather see you die
than conversate with you
flinging items my way
is this a hospital -
or am I actually in jail?
have I actually been arraigned¿
did I perform a crime?
a choice that wasn’t mine¿
[ His only crime was that he was born black. ]
melanated from birth
west african with a caribbean hook
I thought I was going crazy
these people, they betrayed me
Duty of care? none
a negligent flair for discrimination
a poetic display of their irritation
as their bodies sashayed across the ward
attending to everyone else
but me.
I must be wrong
this cannot be prejudice
this cannot be racism
there is no way in hell
this is what I am witnessing
I text my sister - Doctor of the fam
“Niksy, this is what’s happening - they’re just tired right?”
That’s why they won’t hold my hand?
That’s why they won’t speak to me like I'm a human being?
That’s why I’m invisible and if anything treated like the ward’s annoying flea?
That’s why there’s no sympathy?
after all, it’s a ‘black disease’
so why try to empathize with me
“It’s all in my head right?”
all I can say is,
they’re totally wrong
this makes them bad doctors
they’re singing an awful song - an odd tune
but nonetheless somewhat ‘familiar.’
Lord, I wish this was a flu...
I wish I had nothing to do with you.
the irony is plain
and till this day
it’s still difficult for me to claim
that their irritation had a face
Racism - written as an impossible stain.
LET'S BE FRANK 