we were born through violence

brought forth from the guttural cries 

of our mothers, slapped so we would

cry out for life

but our people were also born into violence

from the lands that cry out for us

to the scarred backs of our ancestors

and the thick branches where bare feet

swayed limply, as crowds gathered

to cheer for death 

and somehow, despite these violences

we must not in turn live violently

even when it stems from a heat 

which burns for justice, even when

it is in response to greater violences

that are known but never spoken