Public Service Announcement

PSA; I am not afraid;
I, too, have learned
how to manipulate language
and segregate society
into labels that make distance
so much easier
when it is multi-syllabic,
times new roman,
and box checked.
See, I live inside that box,
make a life
where you wouldn't dare live
and you expect me
to swell your existentialism
through philanthropy?
I don't eat bullshit;
I may dive in your leftovers
and make meals,
wear clothes you threw away,
educate my children
in schools where your tax dollars run dry,
but I am afraid.
My child didn't have crayons at school.
Brown isn't afraid of Black.
White sits in the far corner
shivering
while Yellow and Orange
stay centered, not moving one way or the other.
Red is still wondering where she sits
in this crayola box
we call America.
The Tans and Pinks fear
the basket,
outside,
where almost colors
go to blend with each other
while still having a little piece of themselves.
Yes, I am afraid
that boxes on papers
need crayons
rather than ink marks,
wax paintings of real life
rather than the black n white
photocopies we throw away;
I am not afraid.