Giving Space To The Inner Poet

Heard of him we have One form or another Not yet?, a promise in waiting Now more than ever, counting in the thousands An angel to a few The devil to most It plucks the loved ones at will It pardons not the cherished Nor does it spare the young A fondness for the old All races entertained Wealthy or poor alike, an audience it offers Discrimination is absent in langue Possess it does, icy cold hands at best It grabs at will, robs day or night It fears not the mob Grab in troves at will; if implored by the mass shooter, the impaired driver, the irate forest fire, the natural disaster, unbridled infections, just a few to name Bold it is, some balls it has Timid not I grant A few can see it coming Others barely aware, till their name is pulled, from the lottery basket of life As such timely for some, untimely for most Either way is a loss, too painful to bear Attempt to hinder the inexorable encounter, we strive each day anew

Psychedelic thoughts Mind bending warps Dreamy nights beset Fazed feelings tribute Stumbling men and babbling fools Summon to assemble at once Rivers of tears Silence of pain Jungle of thoughts Thinking aloud in jest Complexity of mind Scariness of nightmares Hoofbeat of horses Scuttling of feet Curious faces they peer Strangers they stare Vagrants on foot Randomness aloud

I am on the ground A man on my chest  Another knee on my neck Hemmed between tar and stone, and heavy bodies of my fellow men How can I breathe A few breaths I need I try to speak A breath of air is sought Alas, dust from the ground, I welcome My voice not heard The pressure remains Oppressively horrifying, to say the least A breath of air still me eludes Bystanders notice, the air I need The blue and black, duty to care remiss I continue to say “I can’t breathe” Still he hears me not Murder in public, repercussions not one, by those who swore to protect Barbarism on display Lynching days are back? Humanity is gone? Where art thou empathy? Now I begin to cry, my mother I call What am I? Who am I? A light to be extinguished? A life to be snuffed?  A person to be feared and executed on sight? My body becomes limp Another black and brown, dust becomes When will this cycle end? What became the promise to “protect and serve” Innocent until proven guilty, a jury of my peers? Dignity...