I have a hard time sleeping
These days
And a hard time waking up.

I find myself better off in the in-between state
But theres never enough coffee
To keep me properly humming, positive
As droplets of a series of events
Cuff my ankles to the ground
Inhaling and exhaling
I reach out, my hands extended
Theres so much blood
Theres so much beating
Theres so much shooting.

My dear friends
I see it affect them like dust in their livers
Little brother can’t quite understand
The white folk around me, they don’t know
I grow and become more cultured
The longer I lived
I hit the pavements with what they would call
Exotic folk
I call my best friends, my allies, my loves.

But you can’t know
What you don’t experience.

How can we change the ways of the world
If i dipped my fingers into the blackest paint
Smeared it all across blue collared sweat stains
Would they better understand?