the sign simply said
don’t open or look inside
clerics said it held
the world’s original sin
horrors not to be explored
inquisitive minds
have always been rebellious
so some looked within
and were shocked by what they found
for inside was a mirror
my voice is muffled by the earth that shelters me so you may not always hear me but i am here beneath your feet in this unmarked grave once i walked above the earth just like you even had dreams foolish dreams failing to hear echos of history those wails from the grave that freedom for those of color was always a cry off so when i demanded my rights and spoke up saying enough time had passed and i wanted my freedom now so one night my wish was granted by an angry mob who discarded me in this grave not far from that tree over there but you needn’t worry i’m not here alone
three am and i’m contemplating life that old woulda’ shoulda’ coulda’ and then my thoughts turned to the world i live in right now what if there were no religions no rationale for defending some man-made doctrine of righteousness and who is righteous no umbrella of excuses for murdering another human being would we be any more inhumane than we are now
ain’t got
no fancy
iambic pentameter
to wrap around
my words
nor
sweet rhythms
to conceal
the crimes
of our time
no metaphors
for the sounds
of bullets
ripping
the flesh
of children
huddled with fear
in their classrooms
can’t find
an anonomatopoeia way
to say
the gun lobby
is french kissing
dollars
into the mouths
of senators
so they’ll
turn a blind eye
to the streets and classrooms
flowing
with innocent blood
but they ain’t
the only ones
refusing to see
that racism
defines this nation
and perhaps
the entire white world
for tears are shed
when ukrainian children die
but not even a sigh
is heard
when children starve
to death
in africa and bangladesh
or
children are struck down
by an israeli drone
there’s no fixed meter
that can convey
the absolute sadness
of parents
with their child’s death
no poet can ever
capture the emotions
for such an event
we merely stutter
our thoughts in words
onto the page
hoping to express
our personal rage
at the inhumanity
of mankind
broken instruments
of
existence
promises
of
peace
and
equality
all
i see
is
a hole
in
the wall
that’s been there
for
years
nothing’s changed
the
murdered souls
never are
given
justice
oh
there’s
always
a flurry of words
rebranded promises
wheeled out
for
the occasion
whether it be
a murdered journalist
or
some child waif
at
the border
whose
death
was
as premeditated
as
most social crimes
crimes
where lives
are
placed
into a penny slot machine
of
foreign
and
corporate diplomacy
always
a simple routine
where
negotiators
put the pennies in
pull down
the handle
of
greed
and
wait to see
if there’s
a payoff
for
those
already
overweight
with
wealth
a simple question
given all the wars on earth
how do we decide
whose freedom we should defend
sovereignty of a nation
or financial benefit
does the formula
include variables of race
or religious creed
are atrocities factors
number of unborn children
murdered in their mother’s womb
whatever is used
seems rather ineffective
given all the deaths
or perhaps no one’s listening
unable to hear beneath
the rubble of self-interest
Read Between the Minds 