Sub-Human

The blood that seeps through my slashed skin

Is just as red as yours

It pours from bullet wounds and whip scars

Staining my back and the cold concrete

My feet that walk this rocky ground

Are just as rough as yours

Centuries on jagged stones and beaten paths

Turning smooth skin into callous patches

The hands that grip these battlements

Are just as shaky as yours

Though you hold metal guns

And I cling to stone defenses

The colored flags I wave in crowds

Fly just as high as yours

Though my colors spread messages of unity

And yours preach about division

The land my ancestors walked

Is just as pretty as yours

Though their mountains and hills

Have long since belonged to you

These lips that rest upon my face

Are just as chapped as yours

Though I speak poems of love and peace

And you spit angry death threats

The skin that covers my body

Is much darker than yours

And somehow, that makes you deem me

Sub-human

Theo Gearty, Grade 12

Creative Writing Major

Drama Major