Poetry On Odyssey: Poetry Inspired By 'Black Panther'

So, last week I published my first article for the Odyssey. I wrote a review about 'Black Panther,' and I also wrote some poems inspired by the movie! I hope you enjoy them just as much as I do!

Let Me Get Them There

Let me get them there so they can witness it

Let me get them there so they can feel it

Let me get them there so they can believe it

Let me get them there so they can be apart of it.

I watched her eyes get lost in the screen

I watched her life get lost in the screen

In her mind, she was joining the Dora Milaje

Saying: “I could do that.”

I watched his eyes scan the screen

Looking through T’Challa to see himself standing right behind him

Reality has just been elevated.

They came through the clouds with their bright lights

And all day it’s been a fight for the right to survive

And all of the stars seemed so high

Today they believe if they can stretch just a bit

Stand on their toes, with just a lift

The stars would become closer.

The unobtainable best selves they dream of

The unrealistic hopes they dream up

The confidence the Panther has given us

In Blackness

We Trust.

May my little siblings dripping in melanin

Find some heart

Find some passion

Find some hope

Everyday.

Where are Your Chains

With a vibranium heart

I accept any challenge

Because what you throw at me

I can throw back harder

I’m a gentle warrior

But don’t you dare tempt me

I’d do anything for my country

Wakanda.

I stood on mountains and reached out at the city at the bottom

I look straight up and see my footprints on the moon

Much of potential was stolen by slavery

They snatched me off my land

They thought they would limit where I could land

But little did they know because I will never forget

My ancestor’s dreams became my own

And as I break away from the boxed mindset of false pride or inescapable doom

I am gleam as I’m released from the shackles you formerly latched to my feet.

Masta’ walks over to me and asks:

“How are you moving freely- where are your chains?”

I reply: “Sorry Sir, I lost ’em.”

But Wakanda

So used to not being useful

So used to being used only for you

So used to feeling useless when it comes to achieving my top usefulness

So used to hearing all those who use me silently ridicule me

So used to being used

But Wakanda…

But Wakanda…

Told me that I didn’t have to be.

And that I can use myself for myself by myself

I can grow myself

I can manage myself

I can own myself

I can build, myself

I can build myself

I can change myself

I can free myself

I can need myself

I can want myself

I can belong to myself

I can reside in myself

I can define myself

I can elevate myself

I can know myself

I can discover myself.