Highlights within the Shadows

Time doesn’t stop

Celebrations are only limited moments

where reality slows down to take a breath

Catch its second wind

before continuing at a steadfast pace

As we run this race of constant hurdles

Moving too fast to see the fraud in the presented change.

Street sweepers sweeping the streets of more than remnants of parties

but also any sign of society's tolerance

Why must I fight for rights that you were given at birth?

How do you truly believe a month of highlighting my community

makes up for the additional 300+ days where I'm forced into shadows?

I won't act as the present hasn't progressed from the past

Which I'm thankful for

But if we're not equal then my struggle remains

There is no look on the bright side of oppression

no silver lining in hate crimes

Your overtime is my weekday

your weekdays are my weekends

I am required to put in more effort to receive half your benefits

Just as a human being.

Stares of discomfort stalk my movements in public

How does my existence alone make you uncomfortable?

How is my being seen an inconvenience to your livelihood?

Tiptoeing through life

unheard footsteps somehow echo

loud as festival speakers

because the sight of me illuminates a never-ending rave in your mind.

But I don’t even like congested spaces where deafening decibels

collide with bodies in motion as they search for an escape

a place to just be themselves amongst others

I prefer the solitude of daily self-reflection

Only interrupted by individual instants with family and friends

However, you wouldn’t know that by only judging my exterior.

Yet that same exterior says plenty if your gaze is focused enough

My body altered into a canvas showcases the values of my life

Images of countries display the importance of my culture

Personalized phrases represent the people and pastimes that define me

Are you willing to view beyond the shadow and delve into the world outside my fight?

I create rhythm with words

causing syllables to salsa on pages

while motivating the next generation to be heard

I use fingertips to revise record directions

alternating genres freestyling discographies

mending sounds you thought could only clash

I discover new worlds and meet new people

24 minutes at a time

then debate for 3 hours why you should share my habit

I press buttons that initiate chain reactions

leading to desired outcomes or precedented failure

all in the name of enjoyment

I nourish miniscule containers of life

as opposable digits combine yellow and blue

when sweat beads equate to edible arrangements

I sip concoctions from glasses

slamming ivory rectangles indented with ebony

on tailored tables crafted from laminated wood

I take care of responsibilities

that allow me to continue surviving

just like you do

I embrace the shadow in which I reside

creating my own highlights and

I exist

One Day At A Time.