It’s a cloudy game we’re playing

Too many storms are coming in our life

Everything we do is spilling over on

us, our home, our kids

Our core is quaking

We need to be rescued

We need an act of God

Unresolved problems and issues

are violent winds masticating our foundation

leaving only remnants of what once was civilized

We become like thunder and lightening

The only time we are good together

is when we are predictably in discord

We illuminate when others are around

hiding our dark-hued clouds

We are intimate because of drought

not out of love and passion

We spend minutes acting out

climaxes of emotional and mental masturbations

We have to get help

I’m begging, pleading

My mind’s umbrella is broken

it can’t take another drop

We need someone who is skilled

to shed some light

on our bad weather patterns

So maybe we will be able to forecast

brighter days

Race says…

I’m born into one denomination

that numbs me to spirituality.

I have no need of a relationship

I have religion,

boldly proclaiming that

I’m serving HIM.

Race says…

I’m born into one party

that predicts my vote and

therefore my outcome.

I have blind allegiance to those

who govern cities where my people

make up the poor, uneducated, and infected.

Race says…

I’m born into one excuse

as to why my people are where they are.

Demanding reparations for someone else’s blood

only to consume them on costly perishable items…

Still wondering why we struggle.

Race says…

I’m born into one mind

that my music, clothes, food and language

are all price tags.

To sway from them

would make me selling out

to something I never bought into.

Race says…

I’m born into one category

for statistical purposes.

To justify the need for more social programs,

To endorse the need for raises and overtime,

and To sell out arenas and stadiums.

Sun rays beam

funky sounds of music

being played and made

fill both up and down stairs

I wondered for months

how it would feel to be

that string, key, and note

You connect with music

the way two people fall in love

Lately it seems

your favorite instrument has changed

from woodwinds to brown skin

Strumming me gently

Humming me in perfect pitch

Placing your fingertips with such precision

Striking all my chords

Breathing me with fluidity

We chill and listen to some tracks

Our arguments, the riffs

Our conversations, the verses

Our laughter, the choruses

Our lovemaking, the crescendos

We, counterpoints

Us, the score

An Ode to The Red, White & Blue

What right do you have to turn

your nose down at me?

Insulting me with your tone and glares

but gleaming with joy at my hand’s craft…

cheap-eats, your new home and well-groomed landscapes.

Remember I was here first.

You illegitimately came, kicked me out of this land

where I now dwell.

Yet and still,  you call me illegal.

Don’t worry if I don’t speak your language,

but you’re gonna to have to know mine.

I’m just one of many colors.

What right do you have to turn

your nose down at me?

Insulting me with your arrogance and contempt,

but enjoying my cuisine, electronics and art forms.

Is it too painful to look at me?

Do I remind you of lost wars and battles?

Remnants of my blood and sweat, still connect your railways.

My cheap handiwork increases your profit.

Don’t like me…

then you don’t like my things you own.

I’m just one of many colors.

What right do you have to turn

your nose down at me?

Insulting me with your politics and statistics,

but enjoying my culture, music and dress.

Enjoying the free labor of my ancestor’s blood,

yet saying I’m looking for a hand-out.

You have enjoyed all the benefits of a  one-way cruise

I never wanted take.

You say I’m angry, self-destructive and scary,

No, I’m just one of many colors.

What right do you have to turn

your nose down at me?

Making me into your blue-eyed devil.

Accusing me of all that ails your life.

There’s a plane and a boat that has a seat with your name on it.

Whether good or bad,

we all have benefited

Are you mad at me or at God?

He made this blanket

I’m just one of many colors.