Ripping the darkness of the night from the sky

I pull it over my fleshless body
“Get out!” my ancestors scream,
“You’re not safe here.”

Unclean, they call me
They point at my skin,
calling it dirty
I told them it was a mistake,
that I fell down one day,
the dirt coalescing with my light skin

I compare my hair to steel wool,
burning the curls on my head straight
Choking on the burnt hair,
my sink cries for me to stop
The curls were once as bouncy as I,
but frequently the heat would unravel them
I would begin to walk with an insecure gait

White, they say I act like
My non-violent reaction leads them to false presumptions
Not black enough, those of my own race say,
hearing the way that consonants bounce off walls when I speak
Proper, I say to them

A pair of feet drag behind mine,
suspecting that I’m up to something at this time of night
Fluorescent blue eyes sparkle behind a gun pointed at my forehead
Bits of my brain explode onto the bullet
Night unfolds from my body as the cop realizes I have committed no crime