My Name is Zianna

Society elected my skin to be a deep onyx
I am immature by age
But my soul is wiser than one hundred men.
I am not shy to tell them how I feel
My name is Zianna.

Choking on the bucket of words my brain is trying to pour
Eyes releasing tears like a leaky faucet
Staring at the ground for a sense of purpose.
All we want is just to have our equal rights
My name is Zianna.

My blood and bones were born in Charlottesville
Color is meant to describe licorice and the midnight sky
Not the surface level pigment of vibrant souls.
We are black people and we shouldn't have to feel like this
My name is Zianna.

Our fathers and mothers are fleeing this Earth
And I reunite with them at the graveyard
Where the holes are filled with bodies of bullet holes.
We have tears and we shouldn’t have tears
My name is Zianna.

My name is Zianna Oliphant.
And I am not shy to tell them how I feel.