Today, a black man who was once a black boy
like you got down on one of his knees & laid
his helmet on the grass as this country sang
its ode to the promise it never kept
& the woman in the grocery store line in front
of us is on the phone & she is telling someone
on the other line that this black man who was
once a black boy like you should be grateful
we live in a country where people aren’t killed
for things like this you know she says, in some places
they would hang you for such a blatant act of disrespect
maybe he should go live there instead of here so he can
appreciate what he has & then she turns around
& sees you sitting in the grocery cart surrounded
by lettuce & yogurt & frozen chicken thighs
& you smile at her with your toothless gum smile
& she says that you are the cutest baby she has
ever seen & tells me how I must feel so lucky
to have such a beautiful baby boy & I thank her
for her kind words even though I should not
thank her because I know that you will not always
be a black boy but one day you may be a black man
& you may decide your country hasn’t kept
its promise to you either & this woman or another
like her will forget you were ever this boy & they
will make you into something else & tell you
to be grateful for what you’ve been given
Clint Smith
Click this link to read the letter Clint Smith wrote to his son in 2015.
