Perspective of beauty and the beast 

Let’s say you get caught called before our first date, & you proceed to tell me the story. 

 As you’re walking to catch your train A dude on the street starts yelling at you, “Ayo Ma let’s be beauty and the beast We could be beauty and the beast”. Of course you keep walking away. Ignore him. Buddy, persist, “Ayo come on let’s be beauty and the beast, we could be beauty and the beast!” But after a while of trying to summon your disregard, he proclaims “Ayo fuck you Bitch,  you were the beast anyways” 

You meet up with me on our dinner date and tell me the story and we laugh after it’s over because now, you’re safe And it’s a funny little anecdote to tell just to get the date going Because it offers entertainment. Of course I laugh & enjoy the conversation, but let’s be real. Maybe that man has a point.

Why didn’t you stop for him? You on your way to see me, a man you have met online, not too long ago. I mean, yeah sure we had a few conversations shared a couple jokes Through text but if you really think about it I was by most standards a stranger. 

You got all dressed up so you felt confident & attractive. In the hopes that if this date with me went well & I was someone you truly were fond of, that your femininity & charm will help beguile me when you decide that I was worth your time & energy. But you still gave me a chance that day, even though I was know-one to you. Why? None of the things that I possess that granted me access to you weren’t even up to me to begin with. You find me attractive? Well that’s a lottery of genetics. You think it’s my personality or sense of humor? Well that’s just a product of my environment, where my parents decided my upbringing would be.

The job I have I got throw luck,

The clothes I were simply copied from an image of someone else better than me, even the dating app we met on is a social experiment for me. 

I’m a Black Man…. Just like him. If you strip away our circumstances & possessions, you’ll simply meet people where they are.

Let’s say it was the middle of December, that man walking down the street alone & here comes a beautiful woman looking for love walking down his path; BOTH OF OUR EYES WORK, both of us can appreciate your beauty. I meet you on a phone, in a sea of faces & you weren’t the only one  swiped on yet you make a bee-line for me other than this man who’s all alone & only approached you. 

Giving up a sense of self saying “let’s be beauty & the beast”. Willingly wanting to be a beast just to be with you if only for a sentence. 

I would do that, not even now.

But just like ever but of luck, every hope, every dream that he was promised in the world, every opportunity of having a normal life, you passed on him & what he had to offer without even batting an eye.

& in that moment maybe he got a glimpse at what you truly were, an enabling piece of this wicked system that chews up black men & women & children & spits them out as carcasses. Maybe he realized something about himself in that moment…. That he wasn’t the monster, the real monster is the system you casually align yourself with.

“Fuck you Bitch, you were the beast anyways”

I literally woke up from a dream I was in & every time I deviated from my path it restarted.

This poem to me dives deep into the complexities of attraction and how we perceive others.  The contrast between that street encounter and the anticipation of a first date & how striking it is. It's a raw look at the snap judgments we make and what we choose to value in others. The ending leaves me pondering about the role of fate and environment in shaping who we are.

The part where you talk about the "shallow pools of our judgments" really got me. It's like a reminder that there's so much more to a person than what we see at first glance. And the way i described the setting with such vivid imagery, it's almost like I'm right there on the date feeling that same sense of curiosity and intrigue. It's a powerful piece that makes you stop and think about the connections we make and sometimes, the connections we miss out on.

"Perspective of Beauty & the Beast" has a powerful ring to it, capturing the contrast between appearances and the deeper truths within.