This morning I was trying to find something black, but I overlooked it because I thought it was gray. It occurred to me to write a poem in honor of Black History Month. However, since I am no poet I asked ChatGPT to do it. I was curious to see what pieces of history it would use to put this together. I asked ChatGPT to write this poem titled “You Can’t See Black When You’re Looking For Gray.” What it chose to say was enlightening, sad, and encouraging.

You Can’t See Black When You’re Looking for Gray

They ask for silence when the storm still roars,
When the blood in the soil cries out from before.
They paint over history with strokes of decay,
You can’t see Black when you’re looking for gray.

The chains are gone, but the weight still stays,
Hanging in echoes of old twisted ways.
Laws shift like shadows, yet pain finds its way,
You can’t see Black when you’re looking for gray.

The dream was a promise, bright as the dawn,
But justice runs slow where the broken still yawn.
They blur out the truth, say the past is erased,
But ghosts still march in this colorless space.

Hands up, don’t shoot—yet bullets still fly,
Another name lost, another mother’s cry.
They plead for reform, but the answers delay,
You can’t see Black when you’re looking for gray.

We build, we rise, we carve out our place,
Yet ceilings of glass still shadow our face.
They say that it’s better, they claim we are free,
While closing their eyes to the cracks we still see.

No more blending, no more fade,
No more whispers in the shade.
Our voices thunder, bold and brave,
We won’t be dimmed, we won’t obey.

Because you can’t see Black when you’re looking for gray—
But Black is here, and Black will stay.