change

by

not that person anymore…

not that person anymore

wide-eyed optimist
carrying bible
from
one high school class
to
the next
reading the text
in
study hall
even
believing
that freedom
was
obtainable
along
with
unobstructed success
if one
only puts forth
honest hard efforts
but now
i’m
a self-defined survivor
all grown up
with
a greater sense
of
my own history
and
its stages
of
delusion
and
foolish trust
so now
i’m
drained
of
milk and honey
and
filled
with
the liquid steel
of
reality
and
truth
what about you

by

preprogrammed…

impulses must be arrested
firing patterns altered
from societal inscribed behaviors
otherwise history repeats
and extinction’s accelerated

 

by

winter does not end…

rusted shackles
remnants of enslavement
shackles reforged as ink pens
legal papers drafted
renaissance of bondage

 

by

little lamb has gone astray…

no where to be found
not a speck of it
absolutely nil
there’s nothing in sight
as far as the eye can see
weeks ago there it was
but once dollars were flowing
it suddenly disappeared
oh moral courage
lost in the senate

 

by

democracy’s tide…

take as fair warning
although the tide’s in right now
rocks remain below
perils for the ship of state
awaiting one more low tide

 

by

dooming moral choice…

simple to ignore
the faces and lives destroyed
when your eyes are closed
if you ask for forgiveness
you’ll find that our ears are closed

 

by

gnarled old trees…

been
rooted
in the broken promises
of
freedom
for
over two hundred years
so
it should be of no surprise
that
we have grown
roughened
in
our views
of
the future
and
misshapen
in
our attitudes
for
hope
and
justice
in
this nation
oh
when we were young
we could
easily bend
and
not break
when
the winds
of
ignorance and hate
forced
us toward the ground
then
we would rebound
and
once again
grasp at the sky
but
now days
we refuse to bend
nor
do we have to
we have
an outside
that has grown hardened
and
an inside
having knotty memories
of
the pain
of
our lifetimes
we have
grown
and
survived
like
african mahogany