You had the children
So you are responsible.
Make your weak excuses;
Character is discernible.
We can look at behavior
Of even a grown adult
To see bad parenting
And what is the result.

A child must have approval
And some loving discipline
To prepare them for the quirks
Of this tricky life they’re in.
They must believe they can
Grow up wise and succeed.
Along with love and discipline
Approval is also a need.

We can’t let television
And hired baby sitters be
The be-all of their rearing.
They all have to learn to see
Their parents really love them
And they have parental respect.
This message cannot arrive
If they are raised by neglect.

If they learn nothing of heritage
And their own family pride
What message can they convey
When they are alone outside?
Will they learn only to care
For themselves and what the get?
After all, there won’t be much of
Family life for them to forget.

And for those of you who fear
Your child won’t think you a buddy
That is not what the kid needs.
He can get that from anybody.
And he or she will because
They never will have learned
That life offers far too many
Bridges selfishness can burn.

I have spent too long
Under too-hot water
Frying myself
And trying nothing
But to scrub you
Out from under my
Skin, red and raw

(9/25/17 || 10:00)

Another ****** died today,
his blood steaming, cooling, in
Pittsburgh's winter streets.
The pale, blue, afternoon sky,
moving too soon into night,
settled darkness on the day,
and on the junkies life.
This all-too-common narrative,
the background noise of our lives,
fails to stir our outrage.
Crawling on top of the man,
as he gasps his last,
his seven-year old son.
They die together, son cradled
in father's embrace.
Both riddled with bullets.
And still, the community fails
to find the outrage.
A black man's death means
nothing to a society conditioned
to judge his worth by his vice.
The death of his son means
even less.

I walked out of my office today at noon
and slid into the stream of pedestrians -
the hipsters stroking their beards,
the pale professionals blinking in the sun,
mothers pushing strollers through the crowd
with more skill than a racecar driver

before I knew it, I walked past my lunch destination
I kept walking - and watching
the people of my town share a sidewalk
without attacking one another

for a moment I was tempted to take a picture
post it on online,
make a socio-political statement;
if people from all walks of life
can share the sidewalk
can we not find common ground?

I left my phone in my pocket - decided against
adding my unnecessary opinion to the
manufactured outrage
that is the sad truth of social media

I smiled at a pretty lady pushing her baby
she smiled back
and we shared a brief human moment
I kept walking

Pick up the phone for a dial tone
While alone for the first time
With a knife to your neck
You express how echoes affect your life
Never once do you hear from the other side
I self destruct you press your luck and replay lost time

There's no break in the wake of my silence
Now you hate that I'm late to the violence
This mistake, our new fate has crossed through
What is lost, what it cost, but ain't really nothing new
Nothing new

Oh! Cara, Cara baying blood
Cleanse yourself from tracking mud
Hear me out, I think you should
Crying never did no good
Take the blade from your hand
Throw it up and take a stand
In between the lines you read
Rooting vines can't hide your greed
You deceive all the tricks
Laughing as you get your fix
Turn around placing blame
Shivering from all your shame

And the fiery haze came down
All must burn
All must burn
Devoured.
Heart drum rears up
Urges forward
HOW DARE YOU
booming through a body
Amplified by bones and skin
Amplified by jaw set, eyes hardened
Hands clenched, soul rising

A challenge has been met.

I'm not allowed to live among people.
I guess I don't deserve to be one of them.
Or maybe, they're just all the same?
To breathe someone else's breath: suffocating.

I am not allowed to live by myself.
I guess everyone is worried about me.
Or maybe, just filthy intolerance of my being?
Adhering to everybody's advice: enslaving.

I'm not allowed to give an abstract meaning to life.
I guess it's sad to not have someone beautiful beside?
Or maybe, they don't understand that beauty has no appearance.
Being a judge and picking people: inhuman.

I'm not allowed to live in the moment.
I guess carrying the past on your back is nostalgic?
Or maybe, thinking of the future is too fantastic!
Being busy, disturbed and in misery: deathly.

To not admire what you have and living in an unquenchable thirst to possess,
To have money and not knowing it's value.
Earn, spend, possess and finally get bored.
To repeat this cycle countless times.
To meet unusual people and brand them socially awkward.
To be selfish but fake the concern for others.
To call this life, is mockery of my being. It's blasphemy.
I'm not allowed to live among people because that's not my life.