Travel

Two women waited at a bus stand
The young one wanted to go to Canada
The older one dreamed of New York
The young one said "This place has nothing to offer me, it's a dead end"
The older one agreed as the young one boarded the Bayfield bus
And she went back to Spieghtstown
Still dreaming of New York
I hope they both find destination and destiny
Waiting at the end of the line.

Strange Fruit...

strange fruit

is rottening in the trees

and it’s starting to smell

the stench is killing

 we

can’t breathe

our children are being suffocated on the streets

by passers by

who hunt them down like wild animals

against official orders

not to follow

lawlessness is stifling the cries

of mothers

fathers

and the unborn

with no names

sleeping in unmarked graves

wrapped in tiny hoodies

skittle covered caskets

and hip-hop elegies

prisons built for the illiterate to live in

for those who reach eighteen

if they don’t become the new crop

of strange fruit

rottening

in the trees

their stench filling the air

and

i

can’t

breathe

speechless

i’m speechless

at a loss for words

my extensive vocabulary fails me right now

i ran out of things to say

prayers to pray

confessions and affirmations to make known

so I stayed up past midnight silent

eating forbidden Oreo cookies and drinking tea

alone with just my thoughts

reading a book I bought

funny how the tv  my friend gave me stopped working today

for no apparent reason

the light stays red like something is wrong inside

as if it knew

like a short

or a fuse is out

and it will cost $200 to fix but how

can anyone put a price tag on something that is priceless

a life

a heart

a soul

a body

that is broken

i wonder why i suddenly feel like hitting somebody

when those who claim to know so much could be so wrong

and be so powerless to save

how would any of them feel to be told that everything will be alright

and wake up the next day to find out that they were all wrong

i hate the world right now

and all of its lies

God please help me to understand

why

after all of these years and millions of dollars

they still can’t get it right

how many have died waiting for a cure

to this disease called cancer

the crab that crawls into lives uninvited

paying no rent yet claims squatter’s rights

determined to take eminent domain over every avenue and street

while we wait

and hope

have faith that God will intervene with His hand

if he should choose to trouble the waters

and save

my friend

RED ZONE REVOLUTION

in honor of those who paint, write and sing
in RED, BLACK and GREEN
standing for the uprising
... insurrection and rebellion
against the atrocities of injustice committed by those who will escape unseen
putting pen to paper
and living dangerously in Real Evolutionary Determination
with weapons of ink
spilling literary bloodshed
spitting truth to the masses
the freedom fighters
willing to ride or die for what they believe
The Red Zone Revolution
is here to stay
showing the colors of life
and the order of the day

lost

he used ink as currency

posting bail as collateral

to free him from the prison gates

inside his mind

a broke poet

with nothing to lose

but words

a hot commodity on an open market

sold to the highest bidder

he now survives

on writing to appease

to see and be seen

caught up in the mainstream

and swept away…

chasing the paper

while losing himself in the limelight

if

If you do
because you have to
but don't want to...
give
because it's expected
but you can't afford it...
go
even though you would rather be
someplace else...
then, don't.
Forced behavior that's not from the heart
is like violence
and rape of the soul
that gives rise to bastard children of resentment
from the seeds of iniquity
planted in the womb of hatred
spreading like a disease that pollutes the land
and carries death to its residents like the waters of Katrina.
So if you have to...
don't want to...
can't...
or won't...
please don't.