A white man's world

[ellajam]

I like the bluntness of this. At first I was "so, and?" but I think you effectively portrayed a person stuck in a world he thinks he has no control over and understands the irony of a situation where he throws someone onto the street for the same thing he is allowed to do because he has the luxury of his own home. For me the white space slowed it down and made me feel he was in slo-mo also. I haven't come to terms with "ambience of silence" yet, it seems off for the narrator's plain speech.

Thanks for posting, interesting.

A white man's world.




He shouts at me,


“You’re a
fucking
racist!”


I am one of two white men behind the counter.
We follow protocol.
Ensure the safety and the sobriety of all residents.



I was following my daily procedure
and protocols.
I caught him
hiding his influence of alcohol.
I told him he can’t sleep here tonight.
I am one of the two
white
employees behind the desk.


He continues to shout at me
looking directly in my eyes,
pronouncing his words
so differently to the point
I struggle to recognize them.


“You don’t know what my life is like. To
try to survive
as a black man
in a white man's world.”


He leaves to the streets,
I head home.


As I drink my many beers after work,
I appreciate the comfort, safety, and warmth that surrounds me.
I imagine him trying to sleep in a place void of such
accommodations..


I imagine him lying down in the middle of a traffic circle
With nearby addicts aimlessly
roaming the streets.
Sound of cars
rushing anxiously to their destinations
Obliterating my ambiance of silence.


One things for sure,
I can’t speak his speech,


My mother and father raised me how they were raised
At home we spoke the white man's speech.
The white man's world is the only world I know.
Every job interview I have ever been in.
A white guy always did the interviewing.


How would I, a white man, fair in a black man's world?


A black man's world where all CEOs, boss-men, and landlords
speak a language that is not of my own.


I see myself as timid,
awkward,
and inelegant candidate.
My confidence would surely fall before me.


I get up off the couch and towards to the kitchen
and reach for another beer in the fridge.