The Double Conscious Man
“It is a peculiar sensation this double consciousness, this sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity. One ever feels his twoness, - an American, a Negro, two souls, two thoughts two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideas in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from going asunder”
- W.E.B. Du bois (Souls of Black Folk, 1903)
The Midsummer night has finally arrived
and the Double Conscious Man
who Lost and Neglected
the Creeping hours of time
finally Tires of waiting on Freedom
finally Tires of
the Incremental pace of Justice
he Weeps into the night
Hoping that Joy comes in the morning
for grass Grows in a burnt field
and his Scorched soul
can feel the ever Gentle breeze
one that is
both Nurturing and Uncaring
both Loving and Hateful
full of Compassion and Regret
But Atlas,
even glory Fades
The pain
of the Double Conscious Man
is the nostalgia of the Powerful
And it Blinds the eyes of a nation