Veronica Dangerfield’s most recent poem to appear here was Trinity, published as part of Contributor Series 5: Dramatis Personae in May 2010.
Mother of a Black Man
By Veronica Dangerfield
Not easy at all
Knowing your baby is targeted
Vigilant, alert, you wait for the call
Darkness, lurking strangers
Hate rears its wretched head
Ready to attack your baby
A society secretly wishing him dead
Mother of a Black Man
Infuse love, fortify his name
Though random racists corrupt
Sustaining him is nonstop pain
MLK in your heart, on your tongue
Nonviolent resistance you impart
Mama, I must fight, this is not right
No, son, ignorance must not have its way
Ashamed, he walks away
His defeat is my victory
He lives for one more day
Mother of a Black Man
Must have the strength of God
Your son could be the next sacrifice
Never knowing when the ax will fall
Every day you plead to the Almighty
Protect my boy
Let him have this day
I pray I never see the day
Soem crazy racist demon
Violently takes my baby away
Oh, what a beautiful, sad, poignant poem! I would love to know Veronica Dangerfield and want to read more of her poetry. I grew up white in a small town in the Blackbelt (Alabama). I was an intern in the emergency room in Birmingham the day of the church bombing and have gone through life knowing her fear and pain to be so real and so true. Thank you for opening your heart.
Heart wrenching.