on my first full day in the isles

i was taking a walk in my new neighborhood

stretching jet lagged legs

and a large-muscled dark brown man

walked towards me on the street

machete in hand

 

and my heart palpated

and it took my whole being

not to turn and run

 

“bula” he said with a smile

and walked on past and down the road

grasping his daily gardening implement

in his own country, not mine

 

            –the day i realised racism was alive in me

 

heather pound 2024

Photo by Bill Fairs on Unsplash