The Essence of a Black Boy

Caged

I remember the time my father told his life story.

Vivid details caressed together paintings made by Jean-Michel Basquiat that flowed off the edge of a stony canvas.

His words set him free, and it reminded me of Maya Angelou's caged bird trying to escape reality.

His mother raised his head upon a roach infested headboard where he slept, but in his mind, he envisioned the beauty of a magic carpet.

The tears in my eye replaced the sweat from the times where he slept on plastic because there were no bed sheets.

And I remember the time I stared deeply into the eyes of a man who could never be fortunate enough to tell my father's stories.

It was you, grandfather... you told bed time stories behind cages, and my daddy had to listen closely through cup stringed telephones.

He longed for his father's presence within his attempt at communication.

Trading in dollar bills for quarters just to pay for some attention.

He wanted more than just a surprise gift, more than just presence wrapped in paper thin glass.

So I want you to know grandpa, my father wrote his life story in the shadows of man who sat between the bars of freedom and the failure of raising a child.

He told his life story in the shadows of a man who hopscotched along concrete images of his children's faces on the playgrounds of prison.

My father did every thing he could to devour the notion of a dead beat father.

But the shedding of my grandfather's dead beat skin replicates the way that feathers descend from the sky, and I just want my father to know.. that he will never have his wings trapped within an idiot box while watching his son grow.

Father I thank you for raising me with such gratitude, and poise.

You raised me with just one quarter, and I don't understand how rich your presence has been when your father offered you one worthless penny.

Where did you learn to raise a child when no one ever taught you?

If it wasn't for the time that bullet took a backstroke through your blood, who knows if I would be here indulging in your love.

But while I do not know what tomorrow holds, I know that you will never be caged.

And I will never be caged...