Whirlwind- A Poem By Nate Davis

Whirlwind:
A poem on being mixed race

A note: my name is Nate Davis. I'm black, white, and native American, and usually don't write about being wholly me. It's always one thing at a time- being black, not being black, being native, not being that, etc. etc. So this little word blurb is rather new for me. I hope you enjoy, or empathize, or learn something- and if not, oh well.

Caught in a whirlwind, cultures unfurling, curling out and away from me
I wish they all could just maybe see
That I am whole, unrestricted by color
That I am entirely me

When you look like them, but something is “wrong”
When you speak just like their friends, but don't know all the words to their song
Welcome to me, to us,
to this half life of racial strife, a paradise if all you want is
Confusion
Disillusion
Some feud in you that refuses to be cowed or controlled
Alluding to that piece of truth, that to you is so loud and bold
The fact that the world refuses to let you be proud, rather it unfolds
Bigger and bigger boxes, in a futile race
Race is the determining factor, so they can put you in your place

Belong to this or that, they or them
Choose one, or the other, never both, and certainly not all
See they’ve been organizing people away so long that all they can do is heed that call
See, theyll organize you into a place to stay, where an identity of their choosing can fall

I understand, i see your point
It's easier to live when you can categorize me
It’d certainly make my life simpler, shaping shackles to set me free
I get it, i know, i empathize you see
But consider this

No

No, i will not allow myself to be a victim of society anymore
No, i most certainly will not choose
No, you cannot persuade me to be less than myself
No, i'm simply done being forced to lose

See, i am not my color. I am not one race
I am not another piece for you to put in it's place
I am a world shaker, wholly me i am a rule bender
I am the box breaker, this one you can return to sender

See i am a rainbow, refracting this pact, this past of all things
I am entirely black, entirely brown, and entirely white
I am what rains over the desert brings, i am what songs in the fields sing
I am praising history and my family, fighting for simply being recognized, for understanding
I am worldwide, i am this side of white and that side of black
I am pride in the face of the snide comments, brown in the face of bigotry
I am what you cannot hope to be, and in this realization, i am tried to be put down to be less than me

So, i’ve been riding whirlwinds my whole life
Hurricanes of “i'm not” and tornadoes of being less than the norm
Staggered blindly, blocked by a lack of self- no longer
If you want to knock me down, you’ll need a much stronger storm