How meadows
   cannot green or divide hills
How lakes
   cannot ripple or remain flat
How tears
   cannot dry in time for another
How wounds
   cannot heal or blood clot
How truth
   buries its lies in unmarked graves
How revenge
   fears justice will turn its back
How reckoning
   fails to pay its debts
How love
   becomes hate by war
How children
   are born old by poverty
How dignity
   cannot calm itself
How eyes
   see knowing their crime
How memories
   only crack mirrors
How confessions
   ask only for mercy
How shame
   walks pretended of grace
How forgiveness
   needed to tell the truth first
How black men
   turn the other cheek

the sophiatown i live in:
is a place i call home
is where i come to from work
is a place riddled with crime
is where i'm proud to be from
is a place being renovated
is where i'm not far from means
is a place that gets frustrated
by the westbury fiends

the sophiatown i read about:
is a place void of silence
is where bra hugh got his trumpet
is a place full of vibrance
is where miriam caught hold of it
is a place that was razed
is where a new place was born
is a place that couldn't be fazed
by the lines that were drawn

the sophiatown i love:
is a place that i live in
is where i've chosen to stay
is a place that i read about
is where that won't go away
is a place that's still here
is where apartheid escaped
is a place made austere
by the forces it shaped

the sophiatown that inspires me:*
is very triumphant
is very intact
so what was your reason
for doing that

you were just one man.
jailed for infinity.
you never bent.
stronger than steel.

oppressed from day one.
segregated by your skin.
you were never broken.
stronger than steel.

the odds were against you.
against your entire race.
your faith never wavered.
stronger than steel.

i walked where you laid.
where you eat, where you ran.
your land gave me strength.
stronger than steel.

your love was so unending.
your hate, no where to be found.
you saved a who nation.
stronger than steel.

Madiba. Madiba.
Nelson Mandela
the original superman.
Stronger then Steel.

lying in the street
a thin shell
and broken on the inside

some ****** with a gun
rifles for the kids
at the storefront

let them learn
before they can’t forget

i say
this will run
as deep and dark as you allow
whether or not you can tell

         get on your feet
          it’s a thin wall
         and won’t weather the shells

i tell you
we americans have agreed
you are either prisoners or refugees
and we must know which

although,
if you are prisoners
you are criminals

if you are refugees
you are blameless

there is no room in our heads
for honest prisoners

and no such thing as
a guilty refugee

tell me brothers
what crimes have you committed
to be in such a prison
how black are your hearts

tell me sisters
what monstrosity displaced you
what savages took your home
let me help you

a man from here once said
let those without sin
send the first rocket

tell me, friends
who is to blame
because we in america
need to know
who to root for

The world watched as Hope entangled itself around the minds of the willing.

They watched as Justice took its first breath as the seed that sprung from Freedom's *****.

An illegitimate child of chaos,born a burden to a crutched nation.

The world looked away as dozens of corpses piled up into skyscrapers.

Skyscrapers,for eagles to perch and nest their wealth over spilt blood.

Forgiveness was wrapped around the mouths of the unsatisfied.

Muted screams of those whose hearts were set ablaze with vengeance.

Hushed down by Nelson Mandela's words of healing over wounds of discrimination.

Now up and about,a nation on its feet,embarking on this journey of union and peace.