There must be black angels in heaven
Creative Things

There must be black angels in heaven

There must be black angels in heaven

by  Nkateko Masinga

at the souvenir shop downtown

i ask to buy a brown angel doll

for my baby niece

the shop assistant shrugs

as if to say there are no angels that look like me

or any of my people

i pull out a photograph and show her

my niece

looking like all the black angel women

who stitched her together with their own bones and blood

i put on my mother’s attitude and tell her

black dolls

black mannequins

black glass ballerinas

must exist

i imagine dying here

and instead of someone saying

look, a black angel

they will say

if she flies,

she must be a witch

i pray often

mostly to stay alive

but today i want to ask

if there are black angels in heaven

-a response to an article titled ‘there are no black angels in heaven’ by Lisa Sharon Harper

One Comment

  • Franco De Blanco

    Beautiful pierce, so warm yet revolutionary.
    Your Poetry births ideas, a Tongue of Fire like the Ancient called.
    Thank you for being such a strong voice, I am still marveled how you do it so gently & yet manage to HEAT THE NAIL BY IT’S HEAD?

    IGAMA LAMAKHOSIKAZI MALIBONGWE.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *