Don't Take Me Tonight!

To ALL my black men, just in case you didn't know, I SEE you, I FEEL you, and I LOVE you! 

As a woman, I am the outward manifestation of what we classify as feminine energy. My male counterpart is known as the masculine. I've learned that men and women simultaneously house both feminine and masculine energy within themselves. As a result, every time one of our men, our brothers, fathers, sons, nephews, uncles, cousins, husbands, lovers, or friends senselessly dies, a piece of every woman dies with them. Finally, I can describe what my soul is experiencing, which my mind and body could not comprehend.

"The alarm clock goes off as usual. I open my eyes. I feel as if I left a piece of myself in my slumber. Closing my eyes, I beckoned to it, asking it to return to me and fill the void. Sadly, it does not. I throw off the covers and let my feet hit the floor. I feel unbalanced and cannot stand. In a heap on the ground, my life is slipping away, and I struggle to catch my breath. Between each gasp, I hear voices cry, "Don't forget about us!" My face, now soaked with tears, I cry out to the universe, "NO! Not another one!" The rate at which the masculine life force is dying means my survival is uncertain. When they die, I die. 

How am I supposed to pull myself together and go about my day, knowing that when it's time to slumber once more, I might not wake up? This is all because our brothers, fathers, sons, nephews, uncles, cousins, husbands, lovers, and friends are BLACK! A blank stare and numbness follow me through my day. Now that the day has ended, and my pillow awaits me, my soul cries out, "Slumber, Don't Take Me Tonight!" While you are at it, instead of being all right in the 

morning, how about making it all right NOW!" 

~ Makeba