I woke up this morning
To the sign of the times
Wondering where it all went
As none of this I recognize

Why do the best of all memories
Have to grow old
As years of tears have cleared the dust
From off my country road

Nothing's now simple
As it used to be
The world in which I once lived
Has moved to the South side of mean

Cold winds have brought a chill
To all I used to know
Blowing the dust off
Of my country road

There's no way to go back
But I still swim in the pond of my dreams
Diving into simpler times
Wading through serene scenes

It didn't happen all the sudden
So it never really showed
Until all the dust came up missing
From my country road

I sometimes catch slight glimpses
If you know what I mean
As I blink back the tears
From the space in-between

Would things have been different
If I would have been shown
What lay beneath
The dust of my country road

i no longer pray for forgiveness.
i pray for growth.
and for me

that is enough.

For the years I’ve been alive
How am I just now seeing the truth
Did I deny simply because I was terrified
Why didn’t I notice it sooner
Why are so many who look like me dying for senseless reasons
Did that cop forget to protect and serve
That American was screaming for an important reason
Is it red, white, and blue
And everything that makes our nation seem less wrong
And more right
Or has it been Black vs. White
This whole time
Was I shielding my eyes from the truth
From the terrifying fact that
Murderers have left this nation in pieces
But despite their weapons of discrimination
We must continue to fight
For a simple reason
That reason being why I was growled at
Like an animal as I held the door freely
For those my ancestors hid from
Why a little girl was taught to hate me
Simply because her parents believed my skin should be corrected
Why a customer felt the urge to get a confirmation from me
That she wasn’t another racist
Don’t they know I’m not a disease
I don’t need a cure
My skin is my skin
If you cut me open
You will see my blood is also red
And my heart beats like your own
And every beat matches hundreds of unspoken words
That carry a devotion to love, justice, and equality
Or as I would like to say
Red, white, and blue
Those who look like me have become an
Us
And those with lighter skin, and brighter eyes
And everyone else like them are all categorized into
They
Don’t they know that there is no us and they
It’s we the people
Not they the people
And for those who still mock my skin
For those who believe there’s a correction
For those who growl and shout at me
Know that my complexion is everything worthy of perfection
My Blackness will forever be louder
And all because
They
Will never know that when I am cut open
My blood bleeds
Red, white, and blue

Stop in the name of love
Recall a time you were in the state of tranquility
Where life was less depressing
And compassion swallowed hatred
Where equality wasn't an idea
Rather, a way of life.
Accept people for who they are
How they treat you
Not who they love.
Stop discrimination
Stop judgement and ridicule
Stop bullying
For our sake, stop hurting one another
Stop in the name of love