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J J Aug 2020
Take care and be careful
riot vans flooding the streets
Live in the moment- be cheerful
While you still can

Eyes glued to the future and scanning,
Never expect things to go to plan;
But the solution is simple and like you
I can seal it with my hands
But I'd rather live my life eyes shut

A widely opened book
With the footprints on my skin to show for it
**** pouring it up, I'm engulfed in it
And threading delicate alibis out of my lonliness

Parading through the chaotic hangover with the ambition

Of a tectonic force.
Graff1980 Aug 2020
I am sorry,
but do not
bother comforting me.

I am crying right now
but you will not read
this poem for many weeks
after this sadness
has passed.

These are not tears
of self-pity.
The water works
are because it hurts
to see others get hurt.

This isn’t a woe is me
small set of verses
for people to see.
This is saltwater anguish
as I watch others suffering.
This is outrage
at the outright inhuman displays
that these authoritarians play
as they spray mace
in a little child’s face
while her mother is
looking the other way.

This is a tongue held so often
that my own words
can no longer soften
this brutal reality.

This is my shame,
cause I claim
to be a good person
but I am not out on the street
with other protesters
cutting my teeth
letting cops bludgeoning me
with their nightsticks.
Anais Vionet Jul 2020
Have you had enough of childish lies
and incompetent response?
Have you bathed in toxic manhood
until you long for nuance?
Are we going to save this planet?
Or will we all move somewhere else?

Will we turn our eyes toward justice
or become a failed police state?
I propose a national "makeover"
a new "US" to change our fate.
You adults will have to do this -
I only hope it's not too late.
A poem about Americas choices
Thomas Harvey Jul 2020
On a dark and cold, winter's night in Omaha
I stumbled into a bar, that was well worth it's scars
The barmaid asked are you here for a woman or to just quench your thirst
I said I'm looking for Reno, he owes me money that was due on the first
She said he would be out in a minute and others were looking for him too
Reno came out with a smile until he saw the badge laying on the ground
He made a good run, but the lawmen had a gun
And ol Reno was lying face down

Reno old pal, why did you run, you know the cops and the law of their gun,
you get to leave and I must stay, it's not too fair, but it the price we have to pay

They ruled it as an accident and claimed that he tripped and fell
He was drinking too much, couldn't see where to walk to
I demanded justice for my righteous brother, they screamed and hollered at me, they said we'll send you right to hell
So I started marching to the ol' corrupt police station to give them a piece of my mind, I laid his picture down and they pulled our their guns
I tried to make a quick run, but the pain in my back could not take it as my body lay face in the ground

Oh Reno old pal, why did we run, we know the cops, and the law of their gun
You got to leave, and now I will too
It's not fair, But it's the price we pay
Jessica Hlabisa Jun 2020
The failed struggle of our forefathers has caught up with me.
We all wanted equality, the pursuit of happiness and ******* liberty.
We went up from being slaves, negros, black and now dead - we are endangered species.
Today he was killed by the cold white hand of the one behind the badge, who swore to some like called an oath to serve and protect everyone but the black man.
To them he's just another tragedy, the next sad story amongst a million of his other brothers and sisters, all lay lifeless, merciless and black - but any ****** is justified as long as the cries of the white man are pacified.
Tomorrow the headlines will read "Black Man Consumed by Bullets" and no one saw him, no one killed him, and no one heard his cries.
But I know, us black folks know.
Being any colour but white is the death sentence.
Dead is the new Black.
Oluwatobi Jun 2020
I hate  political conversations
Especially ones about our dear nation
Should I start with the politician’s lies
Or society’s bias?
Yes, I am young and I don’t know much
But did you see how hard she clenched her purse?
Youths wanna be big
But don’t want to stoop to dig
Trying to look for shortcuts to success
That carries no stress
Men and women in uniform always forget life is A boomerang
they think they can play God cos they’ve got big guns
Our government claim they don’t have enough resources to help us all
but go the extra mile to fund meaningless wars
Humans have allowed their love for innovation to devour them
so much they have failed to acknowledge what they have become
People are so quick to praise loyal partners
Is Cheating acceptable and accessible now?
Politicians love  using tragedies to stay relevant
making false promises to win people over
Countries can’t fix the war on their soil
but go around bombing other countries
to steal their resources and destroy innocent lives
for their financial gain
I see you lot who embrace our black culture
but keep quiet when it comes to our struggle
You can’t choose when to be black sweetie
I don’t know why Vloggers brag about their good deeds
Don’t get me wrong, I am always moved by  your touching videos
but you shouldn’t film the vulnerable
for your views
The internet has  succeeded in painting the perfect body for its audience
that people feel they would be rejected if they don’t meet the society’s standards
We look up  so much to celebrities
because they are reflections of who we want to be
instead of using our little time for our development


Don’t get me wrong
I know and understand
©O.K
June 2020
racism, pandemic, gun violence, greed, police brutality
HeWhoExplores Jun 2020
They stood like three stooges, unaware of wondering eyes that locked onto them. The nameless men spoke gently, as murmurs of importance echoed softly around the park grounds. I looked at them, yet could not look away. But, such a sight was most peculiar as we had been living in pandemic times, shackled by refrain and virtue. You see, this petite park was a refuge for folk like us, constantly searching yet never settled in one spot. The Homeless, The Beatnik and the Middle Man was what I called them. Such callous names I'd acquired for them was not out of spite, but more so out of the visible narrative of what was openly occurring in front of my very eyes. As I watched, a deal was being penned in the cold day of light. The Middle Man, confident and defiant stood a-fixed to the spot and dealt out street lingo that made him as formidable as the warlords themselves. The Beatnik did not contest to his instructions, nor would he dare. And The Homeless stood agape and perplexed as he merely awaited for his evening fix.
Such a candid sight, one thought.
The police arrived only minutes later, revving their engine whilst catching the park folk off guard. The *******, now struggling to put 1+1 together hurriedly exchanged business dealings in the form of sterling for blow. It was over in a matter of seconds. The atmosphere had then become most quiet as only the tweets and low barks of innocent animals had laid bare the scene. I slowly gathered my composure and adjusted my posture once again. And after sighing a great sigh, all I could genuinely think about was The Homeless, The Beatnik and The Middle Man had forever gone. Disappeared, as if from time itself.
A candid recollective memory of a drug transaction in a public park
Douglas Balmain Jun 2020
Feel the fire’s flame
cutting through our nights,
its burning heat
glowing in our eyes.

Feel the teeth grinding,
lungs heaving,
knuckles cracking,
slides racking…
Fear’s vibrations
colliding—dividing—
and choosing sides.

Stop.

Turn away,
relax your breath,
and adjust your eyes…

Can’t you see the face
hidden in the shadow
cast by its fired night?
Can’t you see its narrowed
eyes, the tight smile
emanating from a twisted soul;
the mind that’s taken Center
while we burn at its poles;
the eyes that know
our fractured factions
keep us weak, in conflict,
unorganized and opposed?

The identities we’ve been served
keep us forever in chains,
ensuring the blood we spill
is spilt in vain…
that change is only a slogan
an old institution
with a new name.

We are not black nor white,
we are not left nor right,
we are neither American
nor un-American:
we stand as souls of no nation.
We are people, we are lives—
lives that have been
distracted,
disenfranchised,
and confused.
We are people
whose attention and energies
have been compromised.
We are lives
who have been divided
by the rhetoric of a power
that wishes to harvest
our spirit,
our vitality,
to serve its interests.

Join your fires,
join your minds.
See yourself
in all who you are not…
for you live within them,
and they within you.

We fight for freedom,
not a flag;
for Being,
not for land.

When this truth is felt,
united we will stand.
Not as numbers in a system—
nor factions divided
by city blocks—
but as Beings,
as lives,
whose chance at
a new future
has been restored.
Originally published at https://DouglasBalmain.com/notebook
Kelsey Banerjee Jun 2020
light like a razor blade
I squint
at a pointed shadow,
a thief, I thought,
but it was a cop.

his flashlight
stabs at stuffed animals
and plaid school skirt.
voice gruff
mother’s anxiety pools
in heated, clammy hands,
and when he leaves,
boots threatening,
she follows, rambling.

I wonder how
a man can mistake a child
for an adult.
but maybe,
he just liked rattling the cage
his badge built around us.
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