![By Viviane Sassen](https://theoffingmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/7768085422_9cc574b43b_k.jpg)
origin story #1
My black is a story of night and day.
My black is a story of mud and clay.
origin story #2
I am both
the stem and the seed
of a shadow and its echo.
origin story #3
Allah
spilled my shadow into silhouette
before black became goth
before black become gone.
origin story #4
I am the black
before blackboards
ever spoke through chalk.