2020 / POETRY / AUTHOR

LUTORIA BRICKHOUSE

TIRED
…

I’m tired.

I’m tired of people getting more mad
About a black man
Peacefully protesting
With his knee on a field

Than at the armed protestors
Who fight for the right
To infect others
As they storm a Capitol Hill.

I’m tired.

I’m tired of too many white people
Saying, “I’m not racist;
I have a black friend!”

While they don’t post,
Don’t talk,
Don’t do anything
To try to bring racism to an end

I’m tired.

I’m tired of my Christian
Brothers and sisters claiming,
“I care about all lives,
From birth to tomb,”

When too many
Do nothing to
Protect and care for a brown baby
Once it leaves the womb.

I’m tired.

I’m tired of family and friends
And employers and colleagues
Denying it’s a race issue
When a black man is killed

When they’ll never know
What it’s like to hear a parent yell,
“Your kid is only on the
Basketball team because they’re
Black, not because of their skills!”

I’m tired.

I’m tired of crying myself to sleep
Because I just
Cannot understand
How people fail to see:

The looks my family gets,
The racist jokes I endure,
The fights that I’ve caused
Because my skin is brown
And not cream.

I’m tired.

I’m tired of people
Denying they’re racist
And claiming, “I don’t see color,”

So they can sit
Happily in their privilege,
Saying, “I have the same rights as the others.”

I’m tired.

I’m tired of being thankful
My sons will never know
What it’s like to fear their lives
Will be taken by an officer

Because, though they may grow
To be big, strong men,
They look like
Their white father.

I’m tired.
We’re tired.

…

LUTORIA BRICKHOUSE lives in Oklahoma with her husband of five years, and their two sons. She just finished her Masters of Arts in English Education from Grand Canyon University. She enjoys writing, reading, creating art, and spending time outside with her family.

+BOOKS +POETRY PRIZE +CONTACT

POETS IN MORSE CODE EXPLORES THE ROLE OF INTERPRETATION IN STORYTELLING. BY INCORPORATING MORSE CODE, ONE OF THE MOST WIDELY USED AND RECOGNIZED CIPHERS IN EXISTENCE, SAITERUX JUXTAPOSES LINES OF POETRY AGAINST PHOTOGRAPHS AND TECHNICAL ILLUSTRATIONS OF FLORA & FAUNA FROM THE EARLY DAYS OF SCIENTIFIC EXPLORATION. THROUGH THE TEXT AND IMAGE PAIRINGS, THE ILLUSTRATIONS LEAN INTO THE ABSTRACT ELEMENTS OF A STORY, RECOGNIZING THAT STORYTELLING DEPENDS ON THE WRITTEN WORD AS WELL AS THE IMAGINATION, EXPERIENCES, AND KNOWLEDGE EACH READER BRINGS TO THE OCCASION. MORE FROM SAITERUX