on dignity

I have never met a nigger

I lived two years in an un-free land
where the black man outnumbered the white man
ten to one.

I have traveled every state in the south
and fallen in love with many women
with the soft brown skin of her shackled great-great
great grandmother.

I have shaken hands and kissed
and talked at length about things like
beauty and oppression

with many of those strong gentle folk
some who owned guns
some who loved me too

those friends of mine have pride
and dignity
souls that sing
and a God to sing to.

I have never met a nigger
unless maybe it was inside me
-- my blackened soul --
because once when I was little
and the kind man ran me out of the colored bathroom
because I was white
and it was dangerous

I was scared of him
because his skin was brown