LISTEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LISTEN.
I AM AFRAID OF YOU
BUT I WANT YOU TO HEAR ME
I WANT WHAT I HAVE TO SAY TO BE SO TOUCHING THAT ANGELS CAN REST FLUTTERING WINGS,
SO HOT THAT BUTTER MELTS ON POPCORN LIKE THEATER SNACKS CLOGGING YOUR ARTERIES, STOPPING YOUR HEART;
ATTACKING YOUR INSIDE SO YOUR STOMACH TURNS BECAUSE THE TRUTH I WANT YOU TO HEAR IS UNCOMFORTABLE…
I STAND IN MIRRORS WONDERING IF WHEN YOU LOOK AT ME YOU CAN SEE THE REFLECTION OF IMAGES OF SOMETHING OTHER THAN THE BIGGER SIDE OF ME AND HEAR THE DRAGON SPIT FIRE THAT BURNS MY OWN TONGUE YEARNING TO BOUNCE OFF WALLS AND IN EARDRUMS TO WAKE UP SLEEPING BEAUTIES AND BEAUTIFY UGLY DUCKLINGS!
I AM AFRAID OF YOU
BUT I WANT YOU TO HEAR THE WAY SONGS SHAKE MY SPIRIT AND SEND QUAKE SHATTERING TREMBLES THROUGH MY EARTHS;
HOW THE TRICKLING SOUND OF A BROKEN FAUCET RACES THE SECOND HAND ON MY WRIST WATCH AND FORCES ME TO EXCITEDLY GRAB MY PEN AND BEGIN TO WRITE BECAUSE THESE MOMENTS CAN DISSIPATE WITHIN SECONDS AND TOMORROW MIGHT BE TOO LATE.
I WANT YOU TO HEAR HOW THE BOOKS I’VE READ HAVE SPARKED FIREWORKS OVER OPERA HOUSES IN AUSTRALIA ON NEW YEARS AND CAUSED WILDFIRES IN CALIFORNIA;
I WANT YOU TO HEAR HOW MUCH LOVE I HAVE INSIDE TO SHARE; SURROUNDED BY MOUNDS OF CANDY BARS AND TASTY CAKES IN MY BELLY AND THE VOLUPTUOUS VIRTUES THAT LAY UPON MY CHEST CLOSE TO MY HEART; BUT FAR FROM YOU BECAUSE I AM AFRAID OF YOU.
I AM AFRAID YOU WON’T UNDERSTAND THAT I SLEEP WITH MY TV ON AFRAID OF THE DARK BECAUSE IN MY SLEEP I HAVE NO CONTROL OF MY DREAMS AND I’D RATHER STAY AWAKE TO WORK ON ACHIEVING MY GOALS AND MAKING MORE OF MY TOMORROWS THAN ANY NIGHT OF REST CAN BRING.
I WANT YOU TO HEAR THE RHYTHM OF MY BREATH…
INHALING THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS AND EXHALING THE PRESSURES OF HATE AND RACISM.
I WANT YOU TO HEAR BEYOND THE DIPLOMA AND EXPECTATIONS SCHOOLED FOR CENTURIES IN CLASSROOMS DESIGNED TO PUT A GRADE ON HOW WELL YOU CAN CONFORM, PLACING QUOTAS ON RACE AND RETAINING A ONE SIDED PERSPECTIVE OF HISTORICAL DATA INSTEAD OF SEPARATING THE LIES OF HIS-STORY IN AMERICAN HISTORY;
I WANT YOU TO HEAR ME BUT I AM AFRAID OF YOU.
I WANT YOU TO HEAR WITH YOUR FINGERTIPS SO WHEN YOU LEAVE ME YOU CAN TOUCH SOMEONE WITH HEALING WORDS AND UNDERSTAND HOW POWERFUL I CAN BE;
BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS OF IGNORANCE AND CRUMBLING STEREO TYPES LIKE THE BRICKS OF THE BERLIN WALL, PIECE BY PIECE PUSHING THROUGH CROWDS OF BARKING DOGS AND FIRE HOSES , STOPPING MOVING MOUNTAINS AND RELISHING IN THE REALITY THAT I AM A POET AND I WANT YOU TO HEAR ME.
I WANT YOU TO LISTEN SO CLOSELY YOU CAN HEAR THE SILENT CRIES OF MOTHERS WHO ARE LOSING THEIR SONS AND DAUGHTERS TO WAR AND LISTEN TO HEAR THE BROKEN HEARTS OF BABIES WHOSE FATHERS DON’T WANT TO STEP UP TO THE PLATE OF RESPONSIBILITY BUT FEED ENOUGH CHARM TO LAY LADIES ON BACKS AND NEVER CARED TO LOOK BACK.
I WANT YOU TO HEAR ME BUT I AM AFRAID OF YOU.
I AM AFRAID THAT YOU WILL NEVER GET IT; YOU WILL NOT MEET ME AT THE PLACE WHERE TORTOISES DON’T RACE HARES BECAUSE THERE IS NO MORAL TO THE STORY TOLD AND JUST THE REALITY THAT SOMEONE WILL ALWAYS BE FASTER THAN YOU AND SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO LOSE TO REALIZE YOU ARE NOT ON TRACK…
I AM AFRAID OF YOU BECAUSE I DON’T WANT YOU TO FORGET WHO I AM AFTER I REMIND YOU THAT SOMETHING DEEP INSIDE ME STILL WANTS YOU TO PAY FOR MY GREAT - GREAT GRANDMOTHER’S COTTON PRICKED FINGERTIPS AND THE WELTS ON GRANDPAS BACK…
I AM AFRAID OF YOU.
I AM AFRAID YOU WILL PUT ME IN A BOX AND NOT HEAR PAST THE QUIET STORM BREWING IN MY VOCAL CHORDS, BELTING THAT I AM HERE… I WANT YOU TO HEAR ME…BUT I AM AFRAID OF YOU SO “I WILL WRITE LOUD ENOUGH FOR YOU TO HEAR THE SOUL OF MY INK SPILL FROM THE MOUTH OF MY PEN!”
LISTEN.

City of Brotherly Love?

My mom told me about another brother slain by the hands of another yesterday
Another family member
A mother’s son
A daughter’s father
Another brother now left without a father in this lovely City of Brotherly love.
Last night bullets rang in my driveway louder than the resonance of the Liberty bell
Makes me wonder if the crack’s story is an urban legend and it just wasn’t grazed by the bullet of another brother’s gun!
In a city where tourist purchase tshirts and buttons and pose under the LOVE sculptures,
Brothers are dying by the hands of other brothers!
In a city where the last two elected Mayors have been brothers…
Brothers what are you doing to stop these senseless crimes?
“Am I my brother’s keeper?” is like a joke to brothers from a time warped New Jack City movie where loyalty was non existent and fear based…
But when does your heart get heavy enough to fight for love…brother.
You cannot love the fact that your wife fears her child playing in a green-less playground with one broken swing and bullet shells, brother…
Can you truly say you are okay with your sons staying in buildings for recess in neighborhoods where drive-bys rattle classroom windows and teachers are more afraid of students and teaching comes secondary to discipline?
Brother when will you love your City enough to take it back?
When will you break the vicious cycle that is plaguing the city;
Effecting the younger generation of brothers worse than deaths from the HIV epidemic!
Wake up brothers!
The babies you are making will one day grow up and have to live in the sins of their fathers!
Brother your reality should be your benchmark to exceed far beyond the low percentages presented in your present…
When will you stop making excuses for what “the man” did and take ownership of your place in the Universe…
How about just starting here…in your beautiful City of Brotherly Love!

Haunting Me (inspired by Elle's "Haunting" Single)

The mattress sunk as I felt you begin to crawl from the bed post
…and hover over me like smoke clouds.
I took a deep breath, and the scent of your cologne sent chills down my back…
It felt like your fingertips took a walk down my spine…
Yearning for your touch one last time…
But then I’m reminded you stopped believing in us when I awake to an empty space
Alone
Haunting Me
Alone in a space where memories cling to satin sheets
Sliding through time
Like love songs rolling off tongues
And nape of the neck kisses that took my breath away…
Smelling your essence tucked in my pillow case…
Your side of the bed lay lifeless…
Empty…
Reminding me…
Haunting me…
I’m alone.
You stopped believing in you and me
In us
So please…
Stop haunting me!