POETRY / Narrative Poetry

Wokeness in Three Acts

Be wary of who you open your heart to

Photo by Siviwe Kapteyn on Unsplash

i.
The first time I heard “stay woke”
was from a peer in my youth — a
“brother from another mother,” as
the old street slang goes

– a fellow brown-skinned fellow
laid it on me after dapping me up
as a departing salutation
of fellowship and enlightenment,

and I thought, “How cool!”
for it encapsulated so much within
two simple, monosyllabic words,

such as, beware, my brother;
be wary of who you
open your heart to;

be aware of who you allow
access to what’s true with you;
be on your guard when navigating

this quasi-fascist,
dog-eat-dog capitalist
hellscape of dead, rich,
white, slave-owning,
landowner’s design,