in a democracy
the people have a right to criticize their government
in communism
the oppressed are not allowed to openly criticize the oppressor
and if I call it racism
I’ll look like I’m not taking proper responsibility
for my own circumstances and conditions
because I need to protect cause, and white fragility
Behold this life!
fore I am an instrument of melancholy
what a dream,
it would be
if I could live,
in your democracy
Culture
For the Time, Being
black lives matter
until another matter, matters
until another form, swarms
until another cause, draws
until replacement, replaces
until the next occasion persuades us
until another mother’s stomach wields
another Emmit Till
beyond the lectern
before the lantern
shinning upon the next concern
with the ashes of its predecessor in inside an urn
we have to seize our turn
fore a moment never lasts
even if we’re used to being exactly that, last
Stoic Chauvin
mysterious,
your last name
short for
chauvinism
stoic and calm,
your reserve
sure
bold
and
cold-blooded
but you can shove
that disposition
on the prison yard,
where both
stoicism
and
chauvinism
play a major role
so play your part
and
keep
that
same
energy
when you touchdown
It is What it has Always Been
police brutality
synonymous with
black reality
celebrations
are for rare occasions
an underlying issue
and underlining meaning
speaks deep
within what I’m truly saying
The Verdict
guilty
guilty
guilty
I admit,
before I heard it
I was apprehensive
doubtful and nervous
it’s a privilege to not be these things
it’s a privilege to believe in justice
do you understand that?
I wish I could say that I was confident,
that I knew for certain
that
guilty
guilty
guilty
would be the verdict
there was jubilation
a general excitement and vindication
but a celebration is only for successes
and rare occasions
but the fact remains
George Floyd can’t come back
he just can’t!
his death ingrained in my mind
as a reality check of black lives still
after all that has been
his pleas burning my ears
the very departing of his spirit and soul
almost perceptible to the naked eye
and then
I began to think about the life
Chauvin would now enter
where taking knees do not implicate a winner
a condemned place of sinners
hell on earth for convicted offenders
a kind of purgatory
or hell
that I wish on no one
but then again
the man he killed
didn’t ask to be a sacrifice
your knee did not seem like it cared that its weight
was on someone
but your knee turned ‘no one’
into somebody
somebody bigger than your mercilessness
a cruelty fit for where you are headed
a place that tears into a human being
as it splits families at the seams
but I get it
I know what you felt
life flashing before your eyes
composure struggling to maintain
a feigned showing of strength
in the jaws of fear and helplessness
the same fear and helplessness that your knee
and weight of your body orchestrated
but I’ve heard it all before
as if in a dream
so I know what
guilty
guilty
guilty
means
and frankly,
I became a proud and jovial schadenfreude
watching you handcuffed gave me admitted joy
although the pain and purgatory of prison is a vacuumed void
sucking away all that you have, as it seeks and destroys
and we crowded around the TV, parading, me and my boys
knowing behind these walls, there is no backup you can call
and the response for help
is as slow as your reaction to pleas of George Floyd
along with the slow arrival of an ambulance deployed
as your belief in righteous and humane service, duty
and peace keeping, has all been a ploy
so I’m happy that reality caught up to your guiltiness
and misery will need company,
be sure to send out your visit lists
prison is getting one that it deserves
and it will be your breath that you hope
they protect and serve
when all they see is
guilty
guilty
guilty
30 years after Rodney King
damn a verdict never sounded so sweet
Too Late for a Job Well Done
it’s not that the shooting wasn’t justified
it’s the many times we’ve heard a mother’s cries
because of an unjustified
police homicide
to which we are accustom
because policing on the other side
wears a custom size
and those disparities and biases come to life
then come to mind
when another dies
making justice seem to mean, some must die
and in this case
even if to save one, one must die
BUT
there’s too been too many times
premature death perpetrated by blue lives
onto black lives
more so than
most other lives
I am not keeping score,
rather
I am cutting ties-
with keeping an objective mind
because
we continue to get objectified
as our rights go unexercised
and those wrongs…
and this generational,
modern
and momentary trauma…
will take centuries to rectify
shit, speaking plainly-
adding another black death by a cop
just hits somewhere too deep to specify
as trust has long since been jeopardized
because its the system,
not just policing-
that has been overly weaponized
then silence over accountability
and denial
keeps our experience from being recognized
making it hard to believe your eyes
but
believe your eyes
as ours flood with pain
indicating that we need to rise
because the frequency restricts a peace of mind
and as far as heart
each lost
strips a piece of mine
yea, you saved a life
and though I’m grateful
it’s what you’re paid to, right?
as I still ponder how many more will it take-
after how many of us have been taken
as if we’ve waived our rights-
for this country,
to make it right?