the grinding stone…

western winds have subsided
death’s grinding stone lies idle
but as always hate’s winds will return
grinding racism will once again
turn innocent lives into funeral dust

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

steady as a rock…

all those marches
for folks murdered by police
can’t sway the scales of justice
the fulcrum’s rusted
nothing can move it

 

 

republican voter suppression…

shadows of yesterday
lingering behind closed eyes
muted moments of life
held in fear‘s bondage
to make freedom unobtainable

playing by the rules…

life’s full of carnival games
players following the rules
end up
spending more
than the prize is worth

 

legal injustice …

pair of old work boots
sold as if they were brand new
like promised freedom
but boots have structural flaws
they don’t have any bootstraps

 

self-protection…

before
their eyes
opened
fine threads
of
social expectation
were
layered
around
the infant form
distorting
the view
of
the outside world
and
stunting
the growth within
an arrested development
caused by
a malnutrition
of
truth
as had been expected
with such containment
there were fatalities
but such deaths
were easily
projected onto upbringing
and
or
personal parental failures
leaving the society
blameless
those that
finally
emerged
from
the cultural cocoon
were
as
had been planned
unable to discern
social injustice
accepting
the white cane
of
forced poverty
that denied
them access
to
most of the entry points
of
success
living their lives
as
moths
flutter around
the flame
of
hate
most disconcerting
to
the oligarchy
however
were
the few
that emerged
as
dragons

 

survival subroutines…

those human actions
evolved over a lifetime
as a response to
those who have had white privilege
developed to sustain dreams

 

justice system…

race based procedures
to maintain poor’s oppression
and white’s privileges

 

an incomplete life…

the empty spaces
wedged between your dreams are fears
forced in by others