promise me promises, promise me pain
When is Enough, E..?
cops immune to presumed guilt criminals immune to presumed innocence justice goes to the cuff’er…
Mental Warfare
I ran into a barrier of some sort falling down from the brunt impact surprise…
A Country of Sharecroppers
who is the modern day slave? not just one sentenced to structured captivity because prison…
Sometimes You Gotta Hurt Feelings, to Heal Hearts
even in relationships friendships sparked a connective camaraderie forged in the fire of external forces…
What You See isn’t What I Got
I hate you America I hate you because you made me hate myself I hate…
Just Waiting on You is All
a person died…inside of here he could’ve been saved but the responders…correctional officers were slow…
Lead by the Knowing
I posed a question then searched for my own solution I could no longer depend…
What The Hell
I almost killed myself blah blah, what the hell I ain’t ask for no one’s…
I See You Mama
I see you mama don’t be led astray by these deceitful people, nor let the…
Depravity
You know why I am so uncomfortable? Because I choose to care. You know why…
I Know You Are, but What Am I?
everybody is crazy but I am insane everybody is chaos but I am bedlam everybody…
If ‘If’ was a Spliff
if you were healthy we wouldn’t be speaking of unhealthy choices that you make, which…
a bugs life
if i could speak id tell you dont bug me bug off! im not trying…
What is Philosophy
if we exercised moderation the veil would be lifted from our over-stimulated senses and sense…
Jefferson’s Reflection
reflecting on priorities they evolve but rarely change constituting priorities starting with article 1 implementing…
Whose Feelings are These?
I don’t know if if if if I have e if I have emo if…
Living Hell
imagine if hell is your worst day repeated over and over and life is a…
Survived More
overcompensating with, overindulged processed foods and I survive in this life, because I don’t process,…
Regardless, Life will Hurt the Same
I care less, that you care less you are care less that is careless I’m…
The Nerve of You
you came to prison to be a leader and a servant and then some combo…
Re-vealed
my truth isn’t excuse nor ungrateful the progeny of your fear resonates as hateful do…
What We Do with What We Have
thinking of the life of Chadwick Boseman how he lived even as he died unexpectedly…
White Water Rafting
white water don’t take me white water don’t take me I can’t swim! help me,…
Partisan Brawl
as partisans stall we fall but take your time it’s not like we’re dying for…
Sororities
black badge of inferiority white badge of superiority police badge of authority freedom badgered by…
Under the Blanket
it’s a cold world and that I’ve learned I heard someone say do not call…
Baby Booming Guards
I came in a young man, my eyes still hazy but they opened quickly, becoming…
Compensated Reality
through terror- psychological, physical, and systemical- through mayhem- created, formed, and ordered chaos- through control…
For the Time, Being
black lives matter until another matter, matters until another form, swarms until another cause, draws…
Convalescence
we need a blow how can we rest and heal when we are steady climbing…
Millenial Martyrs
to proceed to progress we have to hurriedly, process because by death is how we…
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…
I think I Shall Thank You
when a victim is continually victimized and the victimization does not let up they are…
I Would Like to Smile
I want to smile in fact I love to smile universe willing, I think I…
History and Reality Put in Perspective
an estimated 50 million taken an estimated 13 million didn’t make it an estimated thousand…
Should I take the Floor?
how much do I have to speak, for you to listen or how silent must…
Vicissitudes and What-You-Call-Its
first I was, unknown but I was, open arms then I became, bamboozled and thereafter,…
Phantoms of Democracy
invisible attacker visible wounds invisible pain visible reactions invisible ailment visible symptoms invisible torment visible…
Incited
I wonder how you all would live when the protections, have run their course being…
Wright, Wronged
I weep for the African American Mothers of African American Men I’m An African American…
Names Hold Weight
as a man of African descent I am no Uncle Tom never have been but…
Watching the Sun
feeling like a child of your light as you watch me watching you closely, then…
Bodies aren’t Just Commodities
there have been 1532 souls executed in our country for every 9 killed, there is…
What is Darker than Dark?
you know how they say happy wife, happy life well, energy transfers those you surround…
Deep-end
if I fall in this deep end, don’t blame me I can’t swim in this…
Scribing My Pulse
even as I have lost luster for life my nerves being chilled to ice still,…
Late Night Tripping (song by WayOfLife)
hello? wanna know what insanity is? when looking inside of a chrome-plated mirror, inside of…
Hard to Give A.. (excerpt from song written by WayOfLife)
hard for my heart to give-a-beat it’s hard for me to give-a-fuck it’s hard for…
More Hard to Give A.. (excerpt from song written by WayOfLife)
Just a Dream? (song by WayOfLife)
I dreamed I, could-n’t move last night, I was trapped in my mind, I think…
Less than Self-less
I’m not myself I am not ‘my’ self I am another self- an ‘other’ self…
Don’t Bother
you don’t have enough time to hear the story of my pain so don’t ask…
Don’t Take it Personal, it’s Just What They Do
it seems like such a long time since the mass building of railroads opiates, grains…
Deliverance
delicious desires desecrating my divinity diluting my dignity destroying my pallid with its overloaded stimulation…
What Type of Time You On?!
this is the dark, where they hide light protect your heart, hind, and blindside because…
Quagmire
the more I study the more I educate myself the more I learn the more…
Killer Instinct
when there’s nothing left to kill whom shall be preyed upon deviant desires don’t dissipate…
In My Void
in my void, I created you, in my absence I re-created my void and now…
More Than a Call
I can only image how ordinary it must have felt for you getting on the…
If You Saw What I See
change is all around us but we refuse it you refuse me you refuse us…
Chaotic Haiku
made for suffering Murphy’s-Entropy I am jade, my condition
Through Me, to You, and back/ You Two, Plus Me, Equals Three
I was always there helping you just look I was always there shedding light just…
More Through Me, to You, and back/ You Two, Plus Me, Equals Three
This Moment, Next
AHHHhhhhhh! AHHhhh, AHHHhhhh, AHHHHHHH! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAATTTEEEE. THIS. SHIIIT!!! (exhale) released negative energy purge-a-tory (smile) it is…
Theorizing-How to Kill
how can you kill what does not die? kill their memory of eternity of what…
Bottomless
what is too deep, when coming from the bottomless? what is too deep, when rising…
Lethal Injection
black people don’t have the best history in America… well there’s more to this statement,…
Unrecognizable
they are dead what they once were they are no longer so tell me if…
Worth More Alive than Dead, but Death Costs Less
People,… Peeeeople, I was once knew as warriors, are now dead…dead inside, and dead outside,…
Bordered Up
boundaries create lines lines not to be crossed without permission but before there were lines…
helpfuLess
I dream to save the world I desire to be saved so while I’m out…
80’s Crazy
they say 80’s babies were the crack babies because the 80’s were crack crazy but…
Rave About the Butterfly, but You Better Forget About the…
you love my words just not the heart it comes from you love my slang…
More Rave About the Butterfly, but You Better Forget About the…
Traffic’d (Lyrics)
(chorus; repeat twice): I still got hang-ups I never got rid of but those are…
Caused Condition (Lyrics)
(bridge): you need me you need me… you made me… (chorus/hook): ima be the bad…
Humpty Dumpty (Lyrics)
(poetically rapped free verse:) umm, attention on the mic is everything alright? it’s dark, I…
Avoided
voyage voiceless voices voicing voids
Who am I?
too different too dark too deep too smart too extreme too far too soft too…
Missing Person
misled misused mistaken misunderstood misperceived misjudged misnamed misheard missing
Killing Empathy
Elijah McClain Elijah McClain Elijah McClain Elijah McClain black people, we’re already seen as different…
White People
the more I learn about me the more I learn of our history the more…
Schizo
shhh, listen, he’s talking right now “is he talking to us or them” shut up!…
Symptoms
pain inscription pain encrypted pain description pain decrypted pain subscription pain submission pain inflicted pain…
Foster Child
If all you do is punish me how can you ever see as anything other…
Omens
wolf howling in the distance conceding an omen a pile of bones left in my…
Feel Like Dying
I need to hurt right now so that I can tell you how I feel…
Remember My Place
remember my place where I’ve been placed its lack of, yet ever opening space a…
Fight to Survive
when you hide to survive when have you ever been alive when you lie to…
Miserable Company
we came together us three, and made one one body of, shock shame and shackles-…
Sleepless
hurt shame embarrassed guilt lonely hurt suffering voided hollowed angry crowded overwhelmed fallen I’m just…
A Moment of Darkness
there’s a nefarious cloud hovering its dark, carnivorous dominion fangs oozing black, thick syrupy liquid…
Unplanned Destiny
I wish they’d understand me I wish they’d understand it nothing goes as you planned…
Depth Perception
I’m sinking or drowning I’ll let you tell- the differences, I’m thinking or dreaming I…
Gripping the Lines
there’s a line everywhere there are lines lines that form lines that border and lines…
My Chaos
insanities vanities calamities is there, amnesty from humanity? humanity is what damaged me …but I’m…
Travesty/ Tragedy
travesty tragedy tracking me trapping me cornered into savagery tortured by my casualties forces formed…
5 Jigsawed African American History Pieces
battered black memories black savages blackened eyes civil liberties yet ask for black submission and…
f* logic
fuck logic logic only makes sense of limitations… boxing tangible things with conditioning platitudes constricting…
Evolving Dream
Give a Beat · "Evolving Dream" by Russell Wardlow A once hoped for, and seemingly…
This Sys-tem
This sys-tem is like a cyst this sys-tem is a stem of oppression and isms…