Scars and Stars

An image depiction of identity and resilience through time.

Scars and Stars

I am a child of this earth; my skin—

black, white, brown a tapestry of time, 

Clothing all of me with the hues of existence. 

I am rooted in my origins, 

Digging deeper into the soils of my mother’s womb, 

Where all life begins. 

I am shaped by this life; caged and freed by its likeness, 

A darkness that tempers light into brilliance. 

My bright eyes, my radiant smile, 

Are like stars tearing through the veils of night, 

Guiding me, reminding me. 

My hair, oh gosh, my resilient hair— 

It twists, it bends, it holds strong like sprouting grains, 

Each curl a testament to survival. 

The earth beneath me sprouted thorns, 

My bare feet grew a calloused resolve, 

A heel of steel, forged in pain. 

Its buzzing trials swarmed me like thirsting mosquitoes, 

But my body, my will, 

Built an armor even time could not pierce. 

The politics of life—its betrayals, its selfishness— 

Seep through every corner, black and white alike 

But I learned to jump potholes, 

To make hunger a delicacy, 

To craft wisdom from the raw grit of ghetto schooling. 

Like cliffs standing tall above a restless sea, 

I rise above the storm, 

Human in my frailty, mighty in my endurance. 

For every tale of struggle is a tale of triumph, 

And every scar is a story told with pride. 

This life is mine to wrestle, mine to conquer, 

And I, like you, remain tall in survival tales. 

 EzroniX Poetry.