Poetry

Reuters photo

By

Darrell Herbert

The Blacks, the Whites

A life of such depth and feeling

All gone far too soon, leaving so many words unsaid

It’s moving to hear you speak these words

Because no-one can utter them like the spirit who weaved them together so delicately

I used to think it scared me, but instead I realized that, rather, it moved me, and has been a constant comfort

Type 2 Diabetics have the fat diabetes and treat their high blood sugars with a pill

Type 1 Diabetics give themselves injections regardless of weight

Glass, moon, blood, hospitals, fetuses, and skulls

I would have kicked the blacks and the whites to the curb and carried on being brilliant

Genius is not always a nightmare just as being stupid isn’t

You never lived in her head and none of us have either

You do have a healthy dose of egotism

None of us know but it is a fact she was depressed

You never lived in her head

February is the suicide month

Shards

Arguing like the push and pull of the ocean, slowly eroding the shore

A new domino toppled over and rested

Long silences grow longer and I get caught in the crossfire

A few hours

To days

Two weeks

The chasm slowly grows

Constantly ready for war, one spark will set them off

Both blind to each other’s point of view

Preferring emotions to words

Divided on Thanksgiving

Absent on Christmas

I broke an ornament on the tree and got a cut on a shard of glass

I looked at the cut in awe

Darrell Herbert

Darrell Herbert is a recipient of a national silver medal and gold key, presented by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers in the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards of 2014. He is also a recipient of the 2016 Scythe Prize, and the 2017 Scythe Prize. He was one of the winners in the second North Street Book Prize competition. His short-story has appeared in the Utica College Ampersand. His poetry has been featured in the likes of the “Best Teen Writing of 2014,” by Hannah Jones, NotMyPresident Anthology, Writers- Black Artists Connected Blog, A Shared Format 4 Poets, Yellow Chair Review, Poetic Treasures Magazine, Section 8 Magazine, Blacktopia: Black Utopia Society Blog, Works in Progress newspaper, Woman of P.O.W.E.R. blog, Media Blast Press, Madness Muse Magazine, cocktailmolly, New York Rising Blog, thisis50.com, Supastars Magazine, downsouthhiphop.com, Beat Yard Magazine, All Black Entertainment Magazine, Southeast Hip-Hop Magazine, Poets & Writers Magazine, UC English Corner, Utica College Ampersand, Children’s Screams are Whispers, Tuck Magazine, as well as in HangTime Magazine and The Lemonade Stand Magazine.