The Skies That Lie

Everything breaks, but there is no noise
The world shatters in silence once again
And we are tools, flesh created toys
We are puppets, all part of the plan

Who created emotions? Love or pain
What should I believe is true?
The feeling of a kiss in the rain
Or the feeling when your life is through

Nothing lasts forever
But few things can wait
Because you still didn't say never
And I feel it's my own fate

I close my eyes to the open skies
Wishing them to guide me through
Now they only whisper lies
Which will never lead me to you

Everything breaks, but I can't hear it
The world stands still once more
Those hard emotions will always be there
Hiding what the future might have in store

Under those heavy clouds I stay awake
Waiting for tomorrow to cover my eyes
As everything's getting blurry
Once again, under those lying skies

What The Eyes Can't See

If you think you know me -
You don’t.
If you believe I am only what your eyes see,
You are not looking deeper into mine.

My color and shape
Are only reflections of blood and some borrowed DNA
Of those who brought me here.

In here also lives something
More obscure and complex
Than just this accused and guilty body of flesh.

It is an eternal fire…
Passed down by the very beginnings of all generations.
It can’t be seen or heard by eyes
Formed out of looking only at the shelter of this light.

I am not going to explain why
I have this moment with you.
I will only say,
“I am your brother.”

I am not what you see while speaking in my own voice.
I am what you feel in that single moment
When you finally open your eyes.

So please hear me well
And we will speak again.

An Epiphany

Things change.
Everything that was
no longer is.
Different ideals
form new actions.
Who am I?
Who are you?
I ask ---
no answer
just a gust of wind
sweeping my pleas away ---
We are living in a bizarre dream,
a misperception of what it means to be.
What do we really know
about being warriors
dying for a righteous cause?
To who do I owe my loyalty to?
To the sleep-walkers
whose actions are only mechanical
and without feeling or thought .
. . or to my homeboys
if any, at all exist . . .?
I hear many theories
on how life should be
and what some of us
should do with ourselves;
but what should I do ---
sit around and wait for others
to decide my fate?
And maybe catch another ten, or fifty
more years . . . better yet, that
life sentence the Judge reserved for
a later time
will be finally mine.
Each day the battle
to keep my sanity
amidst this madness continues . . .
Once, or twice
I’ve wanted to give up
to throw my hands up
and surrender to the worst part of me. I’m sick and tired
of being clueless
in my own life.
I need a reason to continue
not a mysterious gain
for the good in me
I’m trying to recuperate.
Once again
I am pestered by ideals
not of my own
founded to fight a cause
which up to this moment
I don’t have a clue
of what exactly
it is supposed to be about . . .

Get Over It

How can I get over not

seeing his eyes?

Not hearing his laugh,

ever again?

Get over the smile

that gave me

a reason for

living?

The child that

taught me to

be a man?

The child that

held my

heart

in

the

palm

of

his

hand?

Never....

Scared

I am driven,
motivated,
inspired,
often crippled, by fear.
Failure is an option
and success is scripted.
If I fail at this life,
it will be said:
“I always knew he would
turn out like that.”
Should I succeed,
it will be said
“I always knew he could do it.”
so I’m afraid,
the double standards,
double talk,
and hypocrisy that govern us,
stalk me like a shadow in an alley.
How I felt has never mattered,
only what others think.
I carry around the pain
like so many nickels and dimes,
while others poke fun
at my insecurities.
And why not? I’m afraid.
afraid to fail
afraid to succeed,
afraid to be the man,
whoever he is!

The Fog of Life

Completely lost,
in a cloud of guilt
and grief,
walking among the living
but living among the dead.
Completely lost in sadness
and engulfed by despair,
at the end of my rope,
too much weight to bear,
does life even care?

Thoughts 1

life is like a dream,

when i am gone it will be like i am waking up,

and i will become like a dream to you,

i will fade and become blurry like an old dream you had....

i only hope that i am like one of those dreams that you want to keep having over and over again...

Sleep

A poem in the style of my ancestors...


OH LORD OF THE DAY AND NIGHT,

LET ME SLEEP, FOR I AM TIRED,

I AM WEARY OF LIFE AND THE SUFFERING,

MY SONGS ARE FULL OF MELANCHOLY,

AND MY HEART IS FULL OF SORROW...

OH LORD OF THE DAY AND NIGHT,

TAKE ME TO YOUR LAND OF DREAMS,

MY EYES ARE HEAVY WITH TEARS,

LET ME SHED THEM UPON YOUR SHOULDER...

WHEN WILL THE NOBLE PRINCES STOP SMASHING EACH OTHER, SHATTERING EACH OTHER LIKE OBSIDIAN ON THE BATTLEFIELD?

WHEN WILL THE LORDS OF THE LAND SHOW MERCY UPON THE PEOPLE?

OH LORD OF THE DAY NIGHT,

MY SOUL YEARNS TO BE FREE,

LET ME REST, LET ME SLEEP....

I Have Died

I HAVE DIED FOR A WHILE,

PUT AWAY IN A LITTLE BOX FOR A WHILE,

I MISS THE SUNLIGHT ON MY SKIN INSIDE THIS TOMB,

PEOPLE COME VISIT ME ONCE IN A WHILE....

LIKE A GHOST, I WATCH LIFE GO ON WITHOUT ME,

LIKE A GHOST, I HAUNT PEOPLE IN THEIR DREAMS, IN THEIR HEARTS,

LIKE A GHOST, I HAVE DIED FOR A WHILE...

AND THEY HAVE BURIED ME INSIDE THIS CELL.

I Miss You So

Tears fall from my eyes
As a bird soars up above
Free it flies, free it dies,
So unlike my love…

You caught my love
And never let it go,
Now you've gone ,
And I miss you so…

Sweet child of mine
You'll never know,
Just how much
I miss you so.

You Don't Want To Know Me

YOU DONT WANT TO KNOW SOMEBODY LIKE ME

SMOOTH TALK, SMOOTH STYLE, A SMOOTH CRIMINAL...

DRIFTING IN AND OUT OF YOUR LIFE,

LIKE A COLD WINTER WIND...

AS COMFORTABLE IN A PRISON CELL

AS IN A 5-STAR HOTEL.

SO LISTEN AND LISTEN WELL,

TO THE TALE THAT I AM HERE TO TELL...

STONE COLD GANGSTER AND I CRAVE THE STREETS,

I WORK, I HUSTLE, IM ALWAYS ON THE GRIND,

I HAVE TO ADMIT IVE DONE SOME THINGS YOU COULD SAY ARE UNKIND.

WOMEN AND DRUGS, MONEY AND POWER,

AND IN THE MIDDLE OF IT ALL I KEPT THE MOST DELICATE FLOWER...

YOU DONT WANT TO KNOW SOMEBODY LIKE ME,

ILL TELL YOU LIES AND MAKE YOU CRY

AND MAKE YOU WISH THAT YOU WOULD DIE

YOU DONT WANT TO KNOW SOMEBODY LIKE ME,

ILL BE GONE FOR DAYS THEN MONTHS, THEN YEARS,

AND IN THE END ALL YOU WILL HAVE ARE YOUR TEARS.

YOU DONT WANT TO KNOW SOMEBODY LIKE ME,

YOU DONT WANT TO LOVE SOMEBODY LIKE ME.

Colorblind

Blinded, by the atrocities

that DO happen here,

in the ghetto where I live,

Deafened by the sound of AK's

and nines,

Such as the one that

silenced my baby

on that August night.....

Chosen for the beautiful

brown color of his skin...

so should I hate every

single African-American

that walks past?

Or should I embrace

my best friend,

who is as dark as the

obsidian that my

ancestors DID worship?

I choose to embrace....

I choose to not hate....

I choose to love

and be colorblind.