By Thandiwe Wilson
smiling faces
sick with a white grin
ask me about politics
tell me they can’t believe it
can’t believe they
voted for a man
who looks just like them
i tell them i can believe it
they ask “well, what has changed?”
i sit in the silence of their question
what has changed
“nothing”
i respond
i say “the world keeps spinning”
I watch disgust creep at their lips
watch confusion nibble at their brows
the world has never stopped, i say
not for a knee on a neck
not for a bullet to the chest
not for a child in handcuffs
the world has never stopped,
not for a legs dangling from trees
not for bombs on holy ground
not for our mother’s tears
“yes– but what has changed?”
they ask again, the smile buried
beneath their discomfort
“oh– shall the world change because it hurts you?”
i ask
shall the world change because they knock at your door
shall the world change because they want more now
shall the world change because they nipped at your neck
“no,” i say
“my world has not changed”
“but perhaps if yours had earlier, it would’ve”
Thandiwe is a multidisciplinary artist from New Jersey. Thandiwe has just graduated from Howard University with a Bachelor’s in English and plans to spend the next year traveling, attending six international artist residencies. She explores her passion for storytelling through film, creative writing, and abstract visual art while integrating the intersectionality of womanhood and blackness, tragedy, and trauma.
Hot Pot Magazine 