cHanGe (in 2 ACts)

ACT ONE:

shit gits tight
when it’s time to
write
the wrong
that’s
gone on for too
damn long!!
kin I get
a witness?

a life that crackled
and
blazed way
too bright,
ain’t supposed to be
home
EVERY night.
i’ve grown accustomed
to this space.

Me made dem
choices
and
heard dem voices.
told me,
“fuk a job,
just steal n rob.”
born again soft,
I’m aiight.

opiate fused
dreams of
unlimited riches.
cuttin’ mad deals
wit slick-assed
bitches.
bring on
the changes.

choked by arms
I didn’t create.
hustlin’ ta git
1 for 8.
spider webs
of tricks n’ lies.
divide and conquer
undisguised.
never take sides
against the family
again.

neon’s
pink and blue
dazzled
the eye
of a little kid
turned
adult-spy.
had to fight
learned to run
found instant
heart
in a rusty gun.
become a man
by having a
little girl.
that shit
worked for me…


ACT TWO:

night time
sparkles
with the crisp
of
new life.
I am given
another chance.
Rebirth is not new
just to me.
it has become
the promise to any
black skin
still alive
not in jail
and
over 50.
but with life
comes
fact
and
if your brutha
ain’t free…
So
there’s work to do.
those who have
been given
this
gift
must give life
to the dead
with no questions asked.

My Natural Nature

Natural.
Defined as:
being…
REAL.

Melanin enhanced
dna
(The chemical
of life)
needs no man-made
relaxed relaxer
to relax what
can never be
tamed.
This mane
is an extension
of
me
extending myself
to the past/present/future.
Extending my connection
to that
which has
created creation.
My extensions are
real!
Each strand is
an Ancestor.
Each strand
tells a story,
a love lost,
a baby born,
a dream deferred…

When true love
comes true
and
unconditional love
asks for
nothing,
how can I
hurt
me,
damage me,
change my natural
state?
Fry me,
dye me,
flip it to the side and
lye me?
In doing so,
love of self
is lost.
Lost to a
culture of
mind
colonization
and
spirit
assimilation.
Lost to a standard of
beauty
that was never
meant to include
NATURAL!!

Only meant
to include
what
they have
created
to be.

That which never
included
ME.