Maybe I am a thought that never occurred.
Barbers said they'd never
seen someone like me before
When I walked in a barbershop
for the first time in five years
Looking like this.
I asked what they think
Black folks look like in the Afrofuture?
They said they had never thought of it.
A kid I once taught saw me out in the world
Asked me about what my jewelry means?
Signals. For people I want to
build community with in the Afrofuture.
I asked who he thinks he'll be in the Afrofuture?
He said he had never thought of it.
I told him to find me someday when he sees it.
I hope he sees that he is already who he'll be
That he comes from a legacy of
thoughts that never occurred
Things seen but not seen
And questions that were never asked
Of Blackness,
All of which we are always the answers for.
Next time I get a haircut
I will not look like this
To remind the barbers that they
Have seen me before
a flashback from March 6, 2020
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