Recommended reading on WriteHere: A Candle for Jyan (A Liar Fire Story) – http://wh.tl/160313-5
Author: smithaw50
I live in NJ. Concentrating now on a getting a full time writing career started. Glad you could be with me on the journey. Ready? Here we go...
A Night in Battered Armor
I see you
Black Woman
in the armor
we forced you
to wear,
so you could
fight
when you would
Love
I see you
Black Woman
a sad and weary
patience
in your eyes
waiting for
the next
bone-wearying
Battle,
challengers
coming from
everywhere at once
I see you
Black Woman
your smile and laughter
as distant a memory
as the hills
that
surround you.
I see you
Black Woman
the song
in your heart
now the moans
of winds across
a desolate, bleak,
and wretched
landscape
I see you
Black Woman
looking across
the widening chasm
as your champion
turns to become
your opponent
I see you
Black Woman
wiping
the tears
from your armor
lest the salt
dull its shine
as it rusts
your soul
I see you
Black Woman
standing alone
in your own
cold shadow
dreading
but
living
to fight
another day.
I see you
Black Woman
Beautiful
Our Future
Looking into
the distance
her eyes
contain
the vision
of herself
On stage
in front of
thousands
But now
the working through
the struggles
and failures
the pain
and the waxing
desire to quit
and leave it all
behind
Until tomorrow
when the
echoes of
thundering applause
and the phantom scent
of
bundles of flowers
And the
smiles and tears
the fruit of her
labor of love
will generate
will one day
no longer
be only
echoes
and phantoms
So, my people,
Let us strive
Together
toward the reality
of our dreams
Lifting not only
our voices
but our
Souls
True Formation
These
Black Men
proud,
determined,
tired of being
treated as less
tired of their
People being
treated as less
made a statement
took a stand
took action
See the
seriousness
in their eyes
in their demeanor
Protecting
those
who would be
brutalized
Yes, they were a hate group
They hated
oppression
police brutality
injustice
They hated
seeing children go hungry
because there wasn’t
money to feed them.
They hated
living in
neglected and
downtrodden
communities,
and didn’t wait
around for
the government
to change things
And for
all of that
they were
betrayed
infiltrated
and
destroyed
Pull up your pants,
and make
something
of your life
besides
another
tragic tale.
De Value
Well, let’s see…
We’ve been
Categorized as subhuman
Documented as inferior
Theorized as violent
Despised as unintelligent
Valued as garbage
Discarded as worthless
“They’re:
Not worth getting to know
but worth keeping out.
Not worth hiring
but they only want welfare
Not worth educating
but they’re thugs
Not worth any money
but we destroyed their
prospering towns
Not worth access to power
but they’re violent.”
So if you truly believe that,
Let me ask you this:
Why, for one second,
would you pretend
to be something so…
worthless?
Just Say Know
No thermostat heat
No central air conditioning
No storm windows
No waxed floors
No cafeterias
No new books
No shiny desks
with compartments
for your stuff
No high tech lighting
No cell phones
No smart boards
No desktops
No laptops
No gaming consoles
No wi-fi
No bullies
No nonsense
No cheating
No missing homework
No disrespecting teachers and elders
No smartass remarks
No sagging your pants
No midriffs and cleavage
No smoking to get high
No cutting class to have sex parties
No baby daddies
No baby mamas
No drug dealers
No gang bangers
No dropouts
Just say Know…
Know technology
Know reading
Know math
Know science
Know history
Know music
Know mechanics
Know carpentry
Know electricity
Know geography
Know your brothers
Know your sisters
Know your purpose
Know your future
is in
your hands
You do know that, right?
No Turning Back
how
Savage
must you be
to beat a
Savage
how
Beastly
must you be
to conquer a
Beast
how
Uncivilized
do you become
when you
enjoy abusing the
Uncivilized
how
Low
do you descend
when you
torture
one you call
Lower
how
do you remain
on
your pedestal
and put others
on
auction blocks
Do you appreciate
the irony
in the phrase
“lazy slave?”
Our bleeding
and crying
and dying
mirrored the
Uncivilized, Low,
Savage Beast
back to those
who branded men such,
even though they
smiled and laughed
at it
But underneath their
mirthful cruelty,
eyes yet smolder
and
blood yet boils
And that is why
we must
be indifferent
if
our pride offends,
and
our standing up
to grab the lash
strikes fear
For while no longer afraid,
we have learned
You never turn
your back
on the feral…
Why You Leaving Now, Daddy?
Back then
the shovels,
picks, hoes,
rakes, pitchforks,
axes and scythes
were held high
on tired shoulders
that had to make it
through
one more day
to eke out
a hardscrabble
living
under people
with hardscrabble hearts
They sang and joked
and laughed between
the grunts of effort
that went into
breaking ground
Their sweat brought
the flies and mosquitoes
Their existence brought
bullies carrying violence
But their thoughts were
on their wives and children,
who knew that when their men
left them
it was to make the
best life
they could until
they could do better
There was hope in their toil,
and love in their hearts
and it hurt them to see their women
standing with the children waving, sad smiles on their
little faces, and his wife with
worry in her eyes even though
she smiled too
He might run into the wrong man today…
Coming home tired,
to a cooked meal,
and children on his lap,
and a warm bed with
the love of his life
holding him close.
So
Now that the chains are off,
Now that you’re free
Now that you can dream your own dreams
and lift up the next generation
Why you leaving now, daddy?
Why you in jail now, daddy?
Why did you shoot that other Black man?
Was he a daddy too?
Why you don’t come by to see us?
Why is mama crying?
Did you hit her again, daddy?
Don’t you love us anymore?
Daddy? Daddy?
Don’t go…
Why you leaving now, daddy?
Weapons of the Heart
Always
at the heart of it
is a weapon
A kingdom’s fate
A love’s revival
A warrior’s life
A prophecy fulfilled
Always
at the heart of it
is a weapon
Discarded
Forgotten
Dulled
Unblooded
Uncared for
But a weapon
all the same
Waiting patiently
for a hand
to lift it
up into the light
to transfer its
Power
anew
Go on…
pick it up
and
feel its
heartbeat
pulse
in harmony
with
your own
Aren’t You Tired?
Hatred
takes
time and energy
Hatred
wears away
the good in us
by gradual degrees
of erosion until
you no longer
realize
you’re empty
inside
Hatred is
tiring to
perpetuate
Hatred is
tiresome to
its victims
and targets
Hatred
is based
on
private preferences
in a
public world.
Let us be done with
Hatred
and be about
the business
of rebuilding
the land
we now share
and each other
We will never
purge evil
as long as we
practice it
look the other way
when it occurs
take pictures of it
say “Glad it’s not me.”
and
convince ourselves
‘it will never change
because we can’t change.”
Why not?
Beyond Panic 