Black girl reaches her
Black arms toward her
Black mother
      (she is 3
       she wants to be held
       she needs her)

Black mother takes her away
Black hands, pushes her
Black daughter away
      (she is 18
       she doesn't want her
       she wishes she'd never had her)

Black death slow the absence of
Black love in a
Black horizon
      (they have separate despairs
       they have nothing in common
       they are both black.)