She
Poetry
She nonchalantly walks through the door.
To her it was just another store.
She looks the part-together, well dressed.
Not at all like a disheveled mess.
She's no different than the other shoppers that day.
But the sales clerks treat her in a different way.
As She shops She sees one standing close by.
Always watching her with a keen eye.
"May I help you?" the clerk asks without a smile.
"I've noticed that you've been here awhile."
She looks up and politely said "No thank you,"
Then finds a blouse in the perfect shade of blue.
While She thinks about how nice it would look on her,
She sees a clerk spying around the corner.
She wonders why the clerks were following her about.
She had been targeted; there was no doubt.
All of the other shoppers were being treated right.
All of the other shoppers there were white.
She notices with them there was no big deal.
No one assumes they were going to steal.
Once again, She feels bad because of her skin.
But being born black should not be a sin.
Their transparent suspicions have gotten out of hand.
So today She decides she will take a stand.
She puts down the blouse and walks toward the door.
Her money would not be spent in this store.
She looks back at the clerks and said with a snipe.
"I AM NOT A STEREOTYPE!"
To her it was just another store.
She looks the part-together, well dressed.
Not at all like a disheveled mess.
She's no different than the other shoppers that day.
But the sales clerks treat her in a different way.
As She shops She sees one standing close by.
Always watching her with a keen eye.
"May I help you?" the clerk asks without a smile.
"I've noticed that you've been here awhile."
She looks up and politely said "No thank you,"
Then finds a blouse in the perfect shade of blue.
While She thinks about how nice it would look on her,
She sees a clerk spying around the corner.
She wonders why the clerks were following her about.
She had been targeted; there was no doubt.
All of the other shoppers were being treated right.
All of the other shoppers there were white.
She notices with them there was no big deal.
No one assumes they were going to steal.
Once again, She feels bad because of her skin.
But being born black should not be a sin.
Their transparent suspicions have gotten out of hand.
So today She decides she will take a stand.
She puts down the blouse and walks toward the door.
Her money would not be spent in this store.
She looks back at the clerks and said with a snipe.
"I AM NOT A STEREOTYPE!"
Published by Deb Pleasants
As a freelance writer and citizen journalist, I have written for both passion and pay. My two favorite types of writing are personal essays and journalism; however, I also enjoy writing flash fiction and po... View profile
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9 Comments
Post a CommentThis truly captures what it means to profiled and prejudged just by walking into certain places. Thanks for sharing.
No doubt in my mind that probably happened.
Sad thing is~my own stereotype~is the clerk that spied probably thought "gee, she got so nervous about getting caught stealing she left without doing so".
Thanks M.S. and Allison. People need to realize we are more alike than different.
You express yourself wonderfully. I've had that feeling before- like somebody is waiting for me to fulfill a stereotype.
Many of us will suffer discrimination of one sort or another until people can see what's inside the book and not look at just the cover. Great work.
Thank you P. I appreciate the comment.
Really great work! Killer flow that didn't stray from the message for the sake of a ryhme!!
Thank you Charlie.--[People need to open their minds and accept that we don't all come in the same standard packages]--I agree wholeheartedly.