When They See Us

(Dedicated to the Central Park Five)

When they see us

They see our black

In our black…

They see worthless

They see bad

They see no good

They see unintelligible

They see dispensable

They fail to see a happy bright shining star

They fail to see us for who we really are

It’s not what they see

It’s what they are filled with…hatred

When they act on what they feel rather than look deep and really see

The light in the shining star begins to fade

And we cease to be who we really are

Our outlook turns to despair

And where we’re going turns out to be nowhere

When things get tough and hard

And we’re thrust into a world full of anger and void

Just hold on and look up

There is always the grace of God

He dwells with us in our terrible place—sets things in order

And cause His love and mercy to shine on our face

Righteousness is delivered to us on a silver platter

And in His eyes—what they see when they see us

…doesn’t really matter