Red Mask

Red Mask

Red is the most misunderstood color

It means different things for different moments

My life if I was to call it a color

The color would be red

I have the red am mask to hide myself

The truth always bleeds through red

The color stuck out to me

The color red sounds mad

The color red bleeds for different reasons

The color red is controlled

The color red is ready to explode

Red is mixed with pain

Red is mixed with optimism

Red is filled with death

Red is filled with life

Red is to me as water is to a tree

Red is what we need but don't wanna see

Red mask chapter 1 Red As A Child

Red was my favorite color

It stands out to me as a mountain stands out in a valley

Red was with me in the good moments

I saw it in my spider-man bed set

The red between the lines of gray was the coolest

I saw shades of red when I looked at the sun

The orange and yellow highlighted the calmer sides of red

Red was with me when I played outside

My worst days came from red

My worst moments did too

My uncle had red on when he made me cry

The anger from the red took over his words

My other uncle got shot and killed wearing red

He was my favorite uncle he always looked out for me

His name was Uncle Chubby

Uncle chubby had blood going down his chest

Blood smothered his shirt like rain going down a window

I saw his dead body with red all over

I felt like crying but I suppressed it deep inside

My mother verbally abused me

She didn't know how her words made me feel

It was the reality of a lot of black boys raised by single moms

Its either that or the over use of physical beatings till you feel dead

She used a red paddle

They just call it black culture

The only red that shows is anger

The passion gets lost in confusing low self esteem for pride

I went back to my room one day after being abused

I took the spider-man cover off my bed

I cut up the pillow case

I promised to hate red

Chapter 2 Red As A Teen

The color red was a color i tried to hate

That would mean hating myself

My step dad pushed me to be better

I didn't like him at first

I saw the red in his eyes and began to understand it

I connected with his red

He showed a man need his red to survive

My red for my mom turned to hate

My red became crimson

I saw red in my failures too

My little brother looked up to me

Seeing his red stopped me from killing myself

The knife didn't almost cut my neck once

The knife almost sliced me 3 times

My red was changes by his red

My red became softer and loving

Chapter 3 The Man Now

From all my experiences in red

I grew in red

It was the military

The weapons of war taught me how to spill red

I was sports

Sports taught me to channel my red

It was my future wife

She taught me how to love her red

She taught me to think in and out of my red

We blended our reds

My red is now controlled and chaotic

My red is tame and unpredictable

My red accepts love

Poem By:Nakayan Johnson