jesus ******* christ.
the days were numbered and i
forgot to start a tally of
lines carved into the cement walls.
these walls are the only thing
keeping me sane, my sanity
isn’t what it use to be but thank
god i’m not surrounded by
people infected with
ignorance.

rampant, raving, and rioting because they’ve all lost their ******* minds
and ******* lives
people are dying, dropping dead like flies.
and we start to realize,
wake up and smell the artificial roses
planted in front of the white house.
a white house burned
a white house on fire
a white house and it’s lawn turned to ash.
there’s nothing left but the smoke that rises
straight to the sky.

and it’s okay, the family inside took their time,
made sure the door was shut and locked as they left,
never left their lamp on inside so someone came in,
said the skeleton of a home is worth rebuilding,
refurnishing.
matching the curtains with the drapes
and the sofas with the carpet.
the rug was a gift, they say.
for helping and fixing and replenishing
and making the home welcoming to guests.
guests that never received invitations,
never allowed in.
guests who are not guests,
guests who own that ******* house.
guests who own you.

rampant, raving, and rioting because they’ve all lost their ******* minds
and ******* lives
people are dying, dropping dead like flies.
and we start to realize,
wake up and smell the artificial roses
planted in front of the white house.
a white house burned
a white house on fire
a white house and it’s lawn turned to ash.
there’s nothing left but the smoke that rises
straight to the sky.

follow the flame.
follow the footsteps.
find where it starts and let
no one forget it.
you’ve a duty to uphold,
and people to protect,
this was only the beginning
of the very end.


rampant, raving, and rioting because they’ve all lost their ******* minds
and ******* lives
people are dying, dropping dead like flies.
and we start to realize,
wake up and smell the artificial roses
planted in front of the white house.
a white house burned
a white house on fire
a white house and it’s lawn turned to ash.
there’s nothing left but the smoke that rises
straight to the sky.


rampant, raving, and rioting because they’ve all lost their ******* minds
and ******* lives
people are dying, dropping dead like flies.
and we start to realize,
wake up and smell the artificial roses
planted in front of the white house.
a white house burned
a white house on fire
a white house and it’s lawn turned to ash.
there’s nothing left but the smoke that rises
straight to the sky.

The accursed cur doth incur
my waking wrath,
in seeing his swelling belly
bursting full of bile and fat.

That sick disgusting orange rat,
who took fools under his
blood red maga hats.

No grace or gentlemanly disposition,
no eloquent diction, or composition.
He is the disease not the physician
and this reaper of sick souls
needs get sent to a federal prison.

Karma does not hold sway
over these ever-darkening days.
Justice falls, as my government betrays
all that could have made us great
in favor of an unevolved cheeseburger loving ape.

What is there left to say,
all I am able to do is
write away my simmering rage
cause I doubt that anything will really change.

Instead of being activated
by what you hated
you got isolated,
so you wouldn't be triggered.

There were photos of
human agony on foreign streets,
bombed out buildings,
bleeding children,
and parents weeping.

Instead of getting outraged
by what you saw,
you went to your safe space,
so you wouldn't have to face
any troubling thoughts at all.

People softened the discourse,
slightly dulling the edge of the sword
they use to cut the safety cord
we call human rights.

The bad things kept happening
while you were napping comfortably.

You should have been
an exposed wire
sparking an arc of heart fires.
Instead of highlighting
that which was frightening
you went into hiding.

While those who were fighting
didn't get the option
to ignore the horror.

Busted up and ******,
tear gassed buddies bruised
while you used that excuse
of not wanting to deal with bad news
cause you might get triggered.

The world is on fire so,
melt that snowflake heart sister
and brother
we've got no time to waste
in helping each other;

Look and see these tragedies
and get motivated;
Rise up in outrage,
get ******* triggered,
and get to work son.

Cause anger gets **** done!!

I am not white, but
my skin is light enough
that I can walk down
these suburban sidewalks
without fearing for my life.

my brother shares my blood,
but he doesn't share my privilege.
his skin is not light enough
for him to avoid prejudice.

growing up, I couldn't see
how we were any different.
to be honest, I still can't.
but now I know that
other people can.

we are apart by two years
and fourteen and a half inches,
and we share only one parent.
but even now, I can't understand
why that makes us so different.

the ironic part of it all is that
people are afraid of him, but
I'm the one with a criminal record.
my brother has never
seen the inside of a cell.

I remember this one time
when we were walking
and this man pulled his truck
over to the side of the road
to ask me if I needed help.
I looked at him and said,

"this is my brother.
if I needed help,
he would be helping me."

he stared at us in disgust
and he drove away
without another word.
I was afraid, but
my brother wasn't.

I couldn't understand
why he didn't react.
now I realize that
he was already used to it.

my brother and I
are adults now.
we've both moved away and
we don't live together.
we aren't so young anymore.
we aren't innocent anymore.

we're still best friends,
and I still can't understand
what makes us so different.
I still see him on the holidays.

I still love my brother
and he still protects me,
the same way he did
when we were kids.

but it hurts me
because I have realized
that even though I love him
more than anything,
I can't protect him.

every time the TV
shows another black man
shot in the streets
in broad daylight,
I shake with fear.

I call my brother
and I'm not religious but
I pray that he answers.
I can't calm down
until I hear his voice.

I can't convince myself
that he's at home safe
when I see so many young men
who don't ever make it home.

when we were kids,
we lost our older brother.
he drank too much and
got into a car one night
and we waited, but he never
pulled into our driveway.

we thought that he had
stayed at a friend's place,
or maybe he had forgotten
to charge his phone.

we never thought that
his car was flipped over
at the bottom of a hill.
we never thought that
our brother was
under a white sheet.
we never thought that
we wouldn't see him again.

I am so afraid that one day,
my phone will ring
and I will find out that
my brother was shot dead
because of his skin.

I am so afraid that one day,
I will lose another sibling and
there will be another funeral
and my life will have
another gap in it.

I am so afraid that my brother
will become yet another statistic.
I am so afraid that my brother
will be stolen from me.

I am afraid that one day,
when my brother has children,
they will grow up facing the
same hatred that has existed
for so many generations.

one day, my brother
might be the next face
shown on the news.

one day, he might have to teach
his children to move slowly
and to put their hands on
the dashboard of their cars.

one day, he might sit at home
and shake with fear
worrying that his child
will be stolen from him.

one day, I might have to look
his daughter or son in their eyes
and tell them that their daddy
isn't going to come home.

I don't know how
I would survive if
my brother or his children
are stolen from me.
I don't know if
I'd even want to survive.

so how is it possible
for you to steal the life
of my brother, or of a child,
and to then walk away
as if nothing happened?

how could you
destroy the lives
of an entire family
and a whole community,
and continue living your life
without any remorse?

how do such hateful people
exist in this world?

and when can I stop fighting
for this world to change?

when will I be able
to pause and take a deep breath?

when will my brother and I
look the same to you?

will we ever stop being afraid?

you like to pretend
that you are blind.
your friends like
to believe you.

but you can't keep up
this act forever.

soon, you will need
to open your eyes.
you will need
to look around.

you will start reading
that newspaper left
decaying on your doorstep.


when you finally see
the pain that you've
been privileged enough
to never feel,

when you've read
about enough pain
to put that gun
in your own mouth,

don't pull the trigger.
the world doesn't need
any more violence.

soon, you won't be able
to ignore the screams.
you will see how
the world is hurting,
and how your ignorance
has helped cause this.

you won't be able
to live with yourself.

but when you turn that gun
towards your own head,

don't pull the trigger.
the world doesn't need
any more bullets.

what it needs is
for you to help ensure
that no more triggers are pulled.

Compassion informs my outrage,

Skinny black kid,
super sensitive
playing the violin
for kittens,
pacifist vegetarian
tried to tell policemen
“I am not violent.
I’m an introvert.
I am different,”
as they choked him
then had paramedics
dose him
with ketamine.

Buds of pain
do not bloom
but burst, spray,
and sprain
my brain
that was self-trained
in the art of
kindness and reason.

It takes
less than five minutes
to break a mother’s heart,
to tare her world apart,
to shatter and claim
that they are not to blame
after unloading a full clip
on an autistic thirteen-year-old
who wasn’t mentally equipped
to do exactly what he was told.

Love and mercy
should rule the day
but cops make
violence great again.
Human suffering
is not magic
just unnecessarily tragic. cont.

Micheal Brown,
Eric Garner,
Tamir Rice,
George Floyd,
Freddy Gray,
Breonna Taylor,
Elijah Mcclain,
Linden Cameron,
Jacob Blake,
and so many other names.
There has to be a better way.