Composed by an African

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POETRY FOR INCLUSION

A Tribute to Charles Ignatius Sancho

Oh wont you
dance with me
a minuet that
moves to the
rhythm of equity
and sways toward
liberty

For the life
of my people
is hastened
by the
horn of
brutality
whose sound
is coated with
timeless dissonance

It is my dream,
and the vision of my people
to abolish hate
and for Black
feet to not
tiptoe in search
of freedom’s dance

For them
to find a partner
who will bow with
graceful deference
for God’s colorful and
blessed creation

This letter I write
from the heavenly ashes
wishing that ebony and ivory
twirl as one into
the arms
of divine humanity.

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 forPsychiatric Times.