Poetry: Can our Colors Blend? by Yonatan Arnon

Can our Colors Blend?

You are the white, privileged, independent, who is in control,

 

‏I am the black, confined, oppressed, controlled,

 

You talk to me in your tender masculinity,

 

I am not familiar with your gentle language.

 

 

You kindly ask me questions about my personal life and curiously listen,

 

‏I share about my family that cries, my little one who I barely saw,

 

and my puppy that yearns for my touch through the weekly phone call.

 

 

‏You reflect to me that my family is my anchor, that they can give me 

meaning, hope and connection.

 

‏Even if they are not physically close by,

 

You invite me to breathe deeply,

 

reminding me that breath is always present,

 

even when I am not present for myself.

 

 

I am looking for quietness,

 

for my alone time,

 

And perhaps the thirty minutes I have with you,

 

is the only time of Hesed / Grace I have in the insanity around me

 

 

 

You remind me what it means to feel free through

 

breath,

 

words,

 

heart,

 

prayer,

 

 

Even when I return,

 

To my cell,

 

To their gehenom/ hell,

 

To the wild animal they see in me,

 

I am my breath,

 

I am free.

Yonatan Arnon is an author, spiritual guide, entrepreneur, seeker, chaplain, and artist.