![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/poemeveryday\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/yumaclark.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I\u2019m beat.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m tired of people moving
\nto other side of the sidewalk
\nwhen I walk my dog at night.
\nHood down, smile real big, saccharin greeting
\nrelax
\nI\u2019m like you
\nI belong here,
\ntoo.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m tired of looks
\nassuming and presuming
\nguessing race, mood or intent.
\nThe inevitable
\n\u201cWhat are you anyway?\u201d
\nName\u2019s no help\u2013
\nClark seems safe, though.<\/p>\n
I am Yuma!
\n(Son of the Chief)
\nI scream inside my head.
\nBut it comes out as the list.
\n\u201cRussian, Italian, etc.\u201d.
\nWhy do I always start
\nwith Russian and Italian?
\nnot African?
\nI hate that I do that,<\/p>\n
but\u00a0do I pass?<\/p>\n
I\u2019m tired of remembering my roles.
\nTo you, I\u2019m brown enough
\nto be down.
\nAnd you, I\u2019m from Fair Lawn,
\nlight-skinned,
\n(most seasons)
\nspeak well,
\nand will let your hate speech roll off me
\nlike filthy rain.
\nShedding most,
\nbut always leaving an un-seeable stain,
\nface never showing anything.
\nDon\u2019t rock the boat.
\nI don\u2019t know any other.
\nMy favorite role is me.
\nAll me.
\nJust me.
\nBut<\/p>\n
it hasn\u2019t been written yet.<\/p>\n
Is the audience ready for it?<\/p>\n
I\u2019m tired of not knowing how\/if to teach this camouflage to my sons.
\n(Will they need it?)<\/p>\n
Will they yield to it?
\nI cry for the answer to be \u201cno\u201d,
\nbut nature dictates
\ncamouflage is adaptation
\nand adaptation is
\nsurvival.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m tired.<\/p>\n
I guess I\u2019m beat.<\/p>\n
###<\/p>\n
Yuma Clark lives in New Jersey, where he has been teaching for 11 years. Outside the classroom, his loves are family, learning, and fixing things.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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