Rub me clean down to skin,
Raw and i'll ruin,
With sweat i'll chafe black indeed
Scrub me cleaner and I'll bleed

Chain me until
Marks bleed still
And I will sing
Until bars swing

Beat me until I am silent
I will be violent
With my eyes above
And hands that love

I will never be white
I will never be held
I will never be quiet
Until your hatred is felled

Slept alone, awoke to familiar eyes.

Write me something beautiful she said,
And I kissed her a sunset of poems in bed.
I made her laugh when the tragedies flowed in her head.
I got writers block when rage made my heart run red.

Write me something beautiful she said
I put my pen down and just listened instead
To what was between the lines where no ink was shed
And helped close the wounds where nothing bled

Write me something beautiful she said
So I took her hand in joy and dread
Signed away every memory ahead
And promised with this ring thee I wed

Oh I met him in the garden
And he called my name
I'd been watching him in the open
But I was ashamed

Cause I knew he was
What I could never be

It felt like a thousand years
Passed by in a flash
I sold my souls and tears
For approval and cash

Now I knew for sure
What I could never be

Now we're back in the garden
And I see him again
He's a stone's throw away
Saying his amen's

The spirit's still willing
For what I could never be

Here's a garden on a hill
With just three trees
His mamma is still
clinging to me

He's looking to me
To be what I could never be

I'll race you to the garden
Where we laid him down
The tomb is open
Angels around

I finally believe
In what I can never be

The gardener prunes
He'll bear fruit through me

Now the voices have gone silent
And my mind's an empty hall
Every thought's an echo bent
Every word an unanswered call

There is music in my heart
But it's nothing pure or free
My soul has lost it's spark
There are no songs left in me

So I'm lost in the chorus
I'm caught in the verse
The world is before us
And it's getting worse
And we're hollowing up
For the day prophesied
Cause in my heart, the music's died.

So I'll stick to listening
And drop the pen
Post a ghost posting
On whisper again

And maybe it's fine
That the song's dead inside
Maybe it's gone rotten
And my creativity's died

So I'm lost in the chorus
I'm caught in the verse
The world is before us
And it's getting worse
And we're hollowing up
For the day prophesied
Cause in my heart, the music's died.

She opened my heart with melodies and maladies
And closed my eyes
With kisses
And whispers
That dispersed the doubt
Until the darkness came out
Then she left and my eyes opened like clouds
Squinting through the rain at the sunny day.

Tomorrow I vote,
Not because I can, but because I must.
Not for a politician I trust,
Or a person I know,
Not for a friend or against a foe,
Not to support a candidate,
Or to change a nation's fate.
Tomorrow I vote,
Not for a party or fee,
Not for the economy.
Tomorrow I stain my fingers,
And make a choice, between promises, and premises,
What was and what may be.
Because people died to give that right to me.

To let me decide,
Majority or minority,
The destiny of one man,
And find if absolute power corrupts absolutely,
Or men can rule, for the people humbly.
A government for and by the people.
And one vote for little ol' me.

So tomorrow,
Tomorrow I will vote because I am free.