It is the same sun
But because it rises on different sides, at different times around the world
We refuse to realte to one another
It is the same red blood we bleed
Yet we have no problem shedding it
For a land that cannot feel the bodies within it
Hear the cries of innocent children being slaughtered
Smell the blood and pollution that fills the air
Taste the mucus mixed with saliva that the people spat upon its lips
Or see the world in its chaos
But what if it senses everything?
What if one day the tree tells al your secrets?
Or the stone fights back after being kicked around so much?
Everything feels
Everything breathes
How can we relate to the Earth and care for it if we can't do that with the people within our own species?
We are blinder than newborn bats to a world that we were born and raised in.
We are deafer to our own voices than we are to those of others
We are numb to the pain of others, but expect sympathy when we are hurt
We are unable to taste happiness because we are busy smelling up ways to make others unhappy
I have a few simple questions:
Can we find a way to just tolerate one another?
I know that it is impossible to genuinely like everyone for who they are, but is tolerance too much to ask for?

Darkness flows through the veins
Of the men who lack understanding
Of who they are
So busy shining in someone's light
That when they are pushed out, they
Are officially lost

Desperate are the children
Who die from lack of history
Who identify themselves as gang bangers
Who picks up the gun and
Points it at their own brethren

Confused are the school children
Who go to school and learn
But not learn everything
They hear about Alexander Graham Bell, Christopher Columbus, and Pythagoras
People they can't personally look up to
So they fall deep into the mousetraps
Of the world

Sorry are the people who knew
But didn't warn
They didn't warn the next generation
That the world is a bad place
And we are strong people

They didn't tell us that
Unity is what makes us win
Division makes us fall.
They didn't tell us that the sun
Rises in the east and sets in west

They never told us about
Hope as bright as the sun
Who rises and is set in the
Heart of those who are willinng to tell
So tell us that story again
Sing us the slave's chorus
So we could at least have
Something we could call our own

Here I am with my eyes opened wide
My jeans covering itchy thighs no lies
Typing at a computer in a nearby college
Doing sociology homework to increase my knowledge
Having four eyes isn't enough to see
And being alive isn't enough to be
I am going to be blunt as f---
Telling you what is up
In my life and through these brown eyes.

Everyday it is like I'm singing an ode of depression
Here I am settling
For everything that is less and
I am stuck, not really learning my lesson
Reality ***** I believe
But I feed myself lies and allow myself to be deceived.

Drake says f--- a fake friend where your real friends at
I say f--- ALL friends, being yourself is where it's at
In the end, we walk this world alone
With peeps lingering at the side
All the peeps, they are trying to survive
Here I am and still still I rise with the intent
Meet someone heaven, but it seems happiness is a lie
It seems to be the illusion of the mind when reality *****
And the people around you don't give a f---
And I mean don't give a two s---
Even if it was a one s---, two s---, red, white, and blue s---
If I said this aloud I would be dismissed
I leave the library and its me that I am with

They ask me who I am, they say no filter
I say good, we don't need an AC this is the winter
I don't need a false reason to be cool
I am tired of trying to look rad and f-ing up in school
I am tired of my "depression"
My mind lives in oppression
I'm tired of knowing where to go but walking the wrong direction
I am tired of looking in the mirror and f-ing wanting to cry
Sitting on my ****, don't do s--- and asking God why.
It has been a journey and it was nice living it
But me living based on people equals me not doing s---

Today's the day that I choose to make a change
I have a life to rearrange
I am tired of being detained
By this prison called my mind
Where the negative thoughts lie
And the hurt multiplies
As tears fill my eyes.
This story is not going to have a sad ending
In the end I will be winning with nominations pending
I will breathe success
No longer oppressed
By the "mind" arrest

My four eyes are opened wide to a possibility
In my reality, I am getting opportunities
From the NAACP to writing stories
I hold my own glory
On two callused hands that will also write my story
My past should not be a reason to be bitter
I am sorry I cursed, but they said no filter

Splattered paint on jeans like a mural cover cold pale legs on a moving train
Converses beaten with color show a rainbow of hard work done by the feet it keeps warm
I don't know the face beside me and I dare not look
I don't want to judge a book by the cover fot it is more important to judge their shoes
The sneakers cry creativity, art, and passion
And his body remains as still as a painting
The sneakers finally shift and leave at 14th Street
Only for a pair of black boots to take its position
Bye bye motley Converses

Is it love or lust
These questions I ask myself on the daily
I look at the back of him all throughout class
I stare at his hair admiring its texture
I look at his slender figure
Sometimes I gotta admit,
......
I stare at his **** as he walks out the door
He has been wearing the same jeans for about a week now
He looks at his friends and seems to turn his eye
But those eyes just never see me
I guess I was wrong
But why does it matter
I have schoolwork to finish
And he is obviously not thinking about me
Sometimes I wish he would just look at me one more time
Oh dreams, dreams, sweet dreams
Of an insecure, immature, and confused 12th grader

Watch me burn
Watch me burn
As the world turns and turns
And you won't hear me say a word
I'd be silent as they take advantage
**** me with your fiery swords
I wouldn't scream to be heard
Leave my charred remains on the curb

These voices persist
Even when they seem to exist
They live in my imagination as a figment
I may shed a tear
Pain may be too much to bear
But in the end they still won't care

These voices
These voices speak
Their words pierce me so deep
Where it hits home
And I know that I'm alone
They kick me with spikes on their shoes
How could they be so rude
But I let them kick and let them **** me
Because I don't deserve sympathy

Here I am in the smoke
Suffocating here I choke
And I cry out woe is me
Tell the world my insecurities
They just shake their heads
And they leave you for dead
I look around and see no friends

These voices go on
Like an army so strong
And they talk for so long
They live in my head
Each one I already wed
And we all share the same bed