‘They are even afraid of our songs of love’
Carlos Bulosan
Van Gogh wrote that the sunflowers in his paintings communicated ‘gratitude’.
for the son of Korryn Gaines and the Movement for Black Lives
Van Gogh painted sunflowers
close, in a vase
his yellow a hue
fresh to the cadre
a vision sliced through reality
with a brush and pallet knife
For artists, activists,
seekers of truth
in this generation
the narrative is broken
each vision is different
each invented colour is new
but we paint with it anyway
the ability
to remain willfully
ignorant
is privilege
today we choose to believe
the child eyewitnesses
Like sunflowers
with our heads bowed
we form secret circles
take to the streets
because
they still killing us
A shut down is sensation
But what options are left
When they refuse to hear
our songs of love?
