Racism Is a Parasite

Racism isn’t 

caught like a cold

Nor can it be 

easily dropped

like a baseball bat 

after a homerun swing

It isn’t always proudly 

held high with a tiki torch,

a lit message, unmistakable 

for the world to see

Racism also hides,

like a parasite,

an unwanted pest

inserted intentionally 

by ancestors who

gladly profited 

from other’s pain

It nibbles away at us 

from the inside

It cannot be conquered 

by being ignored,

by pretending 

it does not exist,

by self-congratulatory 

boasts of how 

that can’t be inside me

No, in this battle,

our eyes must be open, 

scanning the crevices

for the endless traps 

that were left to ensnare

because they are 

everywhere

Written January 30, 2020