They open in the day and close at night.
They are good at appearances. They are white.
I judge them, judge the study they make
Of themselves, aspirational beings, fake
If you ask me. If you ask me, I’ll say no,
Thank you, I don’t need to watch what goes
Only imagining itself seen, don’t need
To see them yawn their thin mouths and feed

On light, absolute and unmoved. They remind
Me of black people who see the movie
About slaves and exit saying how they would
Have fought to whip Legree with his own whip
And walked away from the plantation,
Their eyes raised to the sun, without going blind.

The Water Lilies

By Jericho Brown

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