I wanna tell y'all about this odd black boy I know,
I met him a long time ago. He was a typical sheltered, protected little brother and son, the worlds' messages filtered from father to mother to sisters to brother into a form he could comprehend.
Love overflowed in his home and he became a spoiled little bastard.
Hold up.
I want to tell y'all about this odd black boy I know,
He is a daydreamer, head in the clouds of some far off land he's never set foot in, always in his imagination, his personal pillowfort. He has dreams of being a hero to the people, protecting those who were weak. He dreamt of being the second strongest man alive, second because Daddy was always going to be first.
He kept his face in books, a thirst for the why and how of things coupled with a love of the vagaries of the artist mind. Ask him and he will tell of the hieroglyphs of Egypt and how the pyramids are engineering marvels. He will appreciate a piece of neo new age art and later explain mitochondrial biogenesis. I learned that from him.
Hold up.
I want to tell y'all about this odd black boy I know,
His fingers made swift from tapping the hell out of the A button, later learning to move worlds with two sticks. He learned sword and shield and spell as easily as he learned run, jump and collect.
Letting his world flow onto paper and introducing all to his universe. Comics and stories became his namesake. "Meet Renn" he says. His imaginary friend is no longer his alone. Tall, blue skinned, super strong and brave. From time to time he still consults Renn, when flesh and blood people fail him.
The odd black boy came to appreciate beautiful things very young, his room adorned in glass figurines and keeping a rosebush outside his window, he loved waking up to the golden sun and watching the silver moon shimmer on the ocean. He loved the view from the worlds edge and while there he contemplated it all. Love, Life, Magic.
Hold up.
I want to tell you about this odd black boy I know,
I want to tell you he's cried to me. Yes this black boy cries. He doesn't want to do what he's told.
"Man up."
"Work hard because you're supposed to"
"Sacrifice your wants"
"Like music you don't like"
"Like sports you don't like"
"Fuck every woman you see"
"Don't be beautiful"
"Don't shine"
"Don't see magic"
"You'll be a real man IF...WHEN...AFTER..."
He tells me he wants to be his own man, his own way but the tide is becoming to much to fight, even Renn can't stop it. So he tries to fit into the square hole.
He tells me how he only now realized he was a black boy. How the world lets him know everyday when he's assailed by his reflections in cracked mirrors.
He asks me why he's hated when all he ever wanted was to love it all.
He asks me why his chance of being forced from the coil is so great when all he wants is to stay.
He begs me to make it stop. He begs me to stop the voices, stop the cries, stop the fear.
He demands to know why he receives nothing but contempt from other black boys and black girls when he wants to glow with them. Share and fly with them, smile and laughter to be shared is thrown back at him like a weapon then he's chided for not trying again.
He asks me WHY...
Hold up.
I want to tell you about this odd black boy I know,
He's tired. Sleepy. Rubbing his eyes and anticipating his dream. I let him lay down next to me and while he sleeps I stand between him and the wave coming to swallow him. I will not let him be destroyed. I will answer his questions. "Odd Black Boy, you're just who you're meant to be. You're that star someone looks towards at night. You're that innocence that the world wishes it could have again. You're the model for the next Odd Black Boy. You tell the world NO! I will not dim my light to fit! I will again stand at the worlds' edge and contemplate Love, Life and Magic." Odd Black Boy we will fight for this freedom to be the Odd Black Boy as long as we have to. I will catch you every time you fall. It's how you made me.
Hold up.
I want to tell you about this odd black boy I know...but I think it's better he tells you himself. He'll speak shortly. He's waking up.
