Today
I let my rage be beautiful.
Felt no need to dress it up
Did not care how it looked
Or what ground it shook,
I just let it be,
And it was beautiful.

Today
I let my rage be powerful.
Left these hands to pray in a clenched fist,
Left this face to smile
With a tightened jaw,
Took to the streets
In strength and love
To answer freedom’s call.

Today
I let my rage be truthful.
I let it tell me I was tired
Let it explain to me the term exhaustion.
Let rest become my granny
Started sayin stuff like
“Baby, close that front door before you let all my GOOD AIR outside.”
Realized what a privilege it is to breathe this GOOD AIR,
When many of my family members have died.

Today
I let my rage be a sounding board
Let it listen to all the times oppression made its home in this body.
Times where the road ahead
Grew into a fork in the road
Sometimes I questioned my choices.
Other times
I wonder why God seems to leave us such limited options.

Today
I let my rage be joyful.
My rage can sound like a soul clap,
Sound like Knuck If You Buck
Sound like Cash Money Doin It for the 99 and 2000s,
Sound like Kendrick Lamar’s Alright
But at the same time
Sound like Amazing Grace,
Sound like Lift Every Voice And Sing
Sound like We Shall Overcome
Sound like Hold On A Change Is Comin’
And Don’t it sound like this rage is Total Praise?

Today
I let my rage be wisdom
Let it remind me of the family that came before
Remind me of the ancestors that made the brick I step on,
Remind me of the bodies that were beaten on that mortar
Remind me of the resilience that sealed this nation together
Remind me that God lives in all of us—black, white, and every other color.
How we make magic out of mud
Communities out of clay
Education out of emptiness
And still rest on the 7th day.

Today
I let my rage be Holy.
I let it be Strong,
I let it be Quiet,
I let it be Still,
I let it be a Dance,
I let it be a Cry,
I let it be a Protest,
I let it be a Sigh,
I let it Be.
And it was Beautiful.

"Searching My Rage" 
written and performed by Drew Drake
thedrewdrake.com