Coming of Age

What it’s like to come of age in twenty – twenty:
Faces of despair hidden under masks.

We brace ourselves when we open Twitter,
Fearing another Black name a hashtag.

Every waking moment spent fighting for our lives,
At the hands of militarized police and an invisible virus.

Black lives matter, Black lives matter,
I’ll say it until my throat gives out.

Forced to choose between our friends and our dignity,
We become more faithless every day. Black lives matter.

Stay at home, wear a mask, flatten the curve.
Powerlessness breeds a lonely anger our parents can’t grasp.

I am not proud to be living history.
I want normalcy, equality, democracy.

By L.J. Sullivan