There have been so many hurdles, but the "runner" keeps his eye on a positive finish line...
POETRY FOR INCLUSION
Modern-day
lynchings
liquefy on
heaven’s track
Good trouble
a welcomed slogan
a runner’s high
infused with
dopamine
justice
False start
blocks of bondage
disqualify and
detach limbs
of equity
intergenerational
trauma
seeking repair
Restorative Gatorade
novel hydration
an amicable antidote
for
running
birdwatching
driving
sleeping
studying
praying
while
Black
Judicious batons
searching for
equitable
hands
centuries of
relays halted
by systemic
racism
The starting
pistol
a harmonious
sound
for runners’
soles uniting
in love
Dr Clark is an outpatient psychiatrist at Prisma Health-Upstate and clinical associate professor at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, Greenville. He served on the American Psychiatric Association’s Task Force to Address Structural Racism Throughout Psychiatry, and he currently serves as the Diversity and Inclusion section editor and advisory board member for Psychiatric TimesTM.