My Black Messiah

My Black Messiah, by Sonia Weitz

A black GI stood by the door
(I never saw a black before)
He’ll set me free before I die,
I thought, he must be the Messiah.

A black Messiah came for me . . .
He stared with eyes that didn’t see,
He never heard a single word
Which hung absurd upon my tongue.

And then he simply froze in place
The shock, the horror on his face,
He didn’t weep, he didn’t cry

But deep within his gentle eyes
. . . A flood of devastating pain,
his innocence forever slain.

For me, with yet another dawn
I found my black Messiah gone
And on we went our separate ways
For many years without a trace.

But there’s a special bond we share
Which has grown strong because we dare
To live, to hope, to smile . . . and yet
We vow not ever to forget.

To me, this poem represents sadness and hope. I say it represents sadness because in stansa 5, she says that she's met the Messiah but then, he's gone. Also I say hope because in the last stansa, she says that she shares a special bond and that is to live to hope and to smile. I find that Sonya still has hope because she is standing up for herself and is not giving up. She's saying that everybody has the right to live their lives no matter what race, skin color or gender. She also vows to never forget that moment she lived to live, to hope and to smile.