They say the way through is the way out.
They don't want us to weigh in--just to stay out.
A closed mouth is a silent shout,
But the people can't hear us when we shut our mouths.
If you speak up it's too loud,
Too black and too proud.
Just a shade too dark.

But there's a remedy for that,
Another bullet in a black back.
Souls turned desolate
Another bully lackin' black tact
Black man--white cop.
Gun cocked
pop, pop
Two shots
No thoughts
Un-armed, life lost
Cheeks turn
Hate costs.
Just a shade to dark.

Red handed as the blood spills.
Black bodies turned to buzz kills.
If the people don't acquit 'em you know the judge will.
And you try to tell me times ain't what they was still?
Just another ni**a in a white world.
They tryin' to wipe our history--white whirl.
Dismantling families killing off the "villain".
An infection to them "white folk" and them bullets penicillin.
Mass incarceration and gentrification too,
The wounds from the hatred have pierced us to the roots.
They try to call us thugs and force us from the roost,
But all lives will matter when the black ones finally do.

I guess we're just a shade too dark.

No tears seem to express.
No words seem to explain.
My heart has sunken into my gut
As the world is hooded with pain.  

A jack of many trades.
A master of them all.
An artist in the greatest form
Whose paintbrush was a ball.

This life makes little sense.
Souls taken far too soon.
We must cherish the ones we love
Because our time, we cannot choose.

The Mamba lives forever,
In the hearts of old and young.
The hope you gave to many
Will be shared for years to come.

The memories will never fade.
Your legacy will live on.
A hero of the game we love,
But a legend far beyond.

It’s like I’m running out of time
Or running out of tries
Can’t find my footprints in the sand
They were lost with the tide.

Is it possible to fly
Or just a figment of my mind?
But God has never sent storm clouds
Without a silver line.

I search but cannot find
While the baggage falls in line.
Just hoping one night I’ll look up
To see the stars are all aligned.

Faith be the answer,
Though fear may come to thieve;
No joy I’ve ever felt can match
When God holds all the keys.

My spirit overflows
And my heart is now of gold,
A renewing of my mind in full
My body’s no longer cold.

Though dark like a thousand nights,
His light’s like a million moons;
No struggle like that of purpose,
Will appear as a silver spoon.

The gentle sounds of raindrops splashing upon the pavement 
Cars passing subtly and their whereabouts unknown
Lightning and thunder intertwined amongst the sky
The sounds of a stormy night are everything but shy

The darkness that has set in births occasional silence.
The flashlights of the street shine as if their lives depended on it
Beautiful portraits are the result of a rain pool's reflection. 
The leaf deprived trees once condemned by winter rejoice at spring's affection. 

The frightening sounds and threatening sights nag and scream all through the night
Until the silence spreads and the faint sounds perish
And the beauty of nature becomes something to cherish
But the morning becomes young as the night gets old and the remnants of a new day unfold.