When the white bird flies,

the sky catches on fire.

Then the fire bleeds to the village

and the village burns.



Do not be mistaken,

this is how you catch the bad guys.

We must catch the bad guys.

Don’t you know?



When the white bird flies,

she purifies in flame.

Replaces evil with ash

and ash cannot stop the oil flow.



But wait, there was a mistake.

backspace, backspace.

Control alt delete.

It is too late, the sky already burns.



And when the sky burns,

so does the village.

These were children,

Where were the bad guys?



When the white bird fails

It flies a thousand homes to its mother.

“We will try again, tomorrow,” she says

and then she turns the screen black.



Still the village burns

and children become orphans,

but the oils keeps flowing,

it always keeps flowing.

I know That Times Will Change.
The Struggle is the same.
The Battle lines are always where they've been.
We've been charging for so long.
This time we must be strong,
Or be scattered like the leaves blown by the wind.

Yesterday as I was  walking.
I heard these two men talking
About a third man who wasn't there.
I heard them put him down,
Just because his skin is brown.
It's no wonder that the world just isn't fair.

I heard a woman say
She did not have equal pay
As the men who did the same job that she did.
When she asked the bosses why,
The looked her right in the eye,
And told her to go home and raise her kids.

In the poorer neighborhood
Where the roads are never good,
And the prices in the market are too high,
When you bother to compair,
The food is cheaper where
The well-to-do are sure to shop and buy.

I know that times will change.
The struggle stays the same.
The Battle lines are always where they've been.
We've been charging for so long.
This time we must be strong,
Or be scattered like the leaves blown by the wind.

They said in the news cast
A man was beaten bad.
He was on his way for treatment when he died.
He had dared to love a man,
and they called that love a sin.
I think the only sin was how they lied.

There's an teen-ager in jail
Being held without a bail.
His only crime was coming to our land.
Before they let him go,
They'll strip him of his hope,
Then send him to the gangs across the Rio Grande.

I know the times will change.
The struggle stays the same.
The battle lines are always where they've been.
We've been charging for so long.
This time we must be strong,
Or scatter like the leaves blown by the wind.

We've been fighting for so long.
This time we must stand strong,
Stronger than the leaves blown by the wind.

My tired eyes,
my fatigued mind
falls slow and time becomes obscured by
the drowsy raven sailing sunset sky boulevard.
My phone is ringing orders and misdirection calls,
that funny little radiation box hollering voices
of somewhere, telemarketers in India, automated messages,
spurious connections anywhere but here.
The rain-shine of approaching April Wednesday
trails golden hues among the treeline being viciously
torn like a gradual atomic bomb flattening the hoary hills
and spectacular firs beryl in frequent times of showers.

Each day I hope for that fabled resurgence,
nearly a year my fingers have been crossed
while wars are still wars, politicians still politicians,
gods still gods. Everything is so still, silence among fury.
Carpet bombings, protests, genocides, reforms, riots, the drowsy
raven circles in view of the window and my thoughts cycle around
my washing machine consciousness wiping off the grit of untruths
of everywhere else but within myself. That seems to be the problem
with most people.

As the clouds roll in, as the sun subsides into darkness,
as my mind is clouded by that ever-expanding raven encompassing
night sky and nightmares, I realize I hadn't even gone out at any point
that day and probably wouldn't the next.
We've become so dull some of us.
Vacuums inside of vacuums.

They taught in school the most powerful one was the speaker
When I got older I realized that the loudness actually makes one weaker
I learned how to show and not tell
I saw that words were the cheapest thought you could sell
My artwork was stonger
And it would last much longer
Marching in protest
The words printed on the signs and faces were better than the rest
And when somebody made me angry or cry
I didn't say anything, I wouldn't even sigh
The understanding of discontent was more loud and clear
Than any ear could ever hear

I don’t know what to believe anymore
And I don’t remember what we believed before
People are dying and killing but that’s nothing new
Something’s different now, that much is true
Everybody wants their rights written down
Every bullet wants to travel to the other side of town
Though candles stand atop burning wax that is poured
The only light that can see is the tip of a sword

Everybody hates them until they need them
Just like lawyers we pay to lie to those that condemn
We never miss a chance to parch another man’s thirst
The easiest thing for us to do is to assume the worst
Go ahead and believe the man you’ve been told about
You pretend you’re a dead head but you’re too afraid to doubt
To say how you feel is to tell everyone you commit to your word
Even if giving your word means you feel the tip of a sword

We forgot about faith because the compass could no longer give
But it wasn’t the book or the man we decided was too good to live
We tried to spiritualize ourselves but forgot what kindness meant
Resisting the nails we ignored scarred hands from where he was sent
Trumpet blasts warned horsemen too afraid to deliver his will
He could not decide between those who save and those who ****
Children who saw death but were told to forgive was all that roared
They grew to know that the only life to live was by the tip of a sword

Pop pop.
Gunned down.
Hands up.
On the ground.

I never seen a prison cell
Accept my own house.
‘cause as soon as I step out side
police come out.

I never seen a prison cell
accept my own mind
As soon as we have some fun
They creep up from behind.

Pop pop.
Gunned down.
Hands up.
On the ground.

I did an extra 7 years
Just to make sure they don’t mess with me.
But the color of my skin
aint a match for my master’s degree.

I make a lot of money
and I’ve never sold D.
But I know they gunna
find a reason eventually.

Pop pop.
Gunned down.
Hands up.
On the ground.

They never have to put the cuffs on me
for me to be in jail.
because i’ve seen it so many times,
the memories are my cell.

Pop pop

do not smile at strangers
do not smile at strangers
**** the difference
we are not safe
when the strangers are here
what if they take
our jobs
our homes
our children
give me your tired
so I can work them harder
give me your poor
so i can make them poorer
give me your huddled masses yearning to breathe free
so I can choke the sparks from their eyes
do not smile at strangers
do not smile at the others
**** the different
our way of life is not safe
when the others are here
what if they take
our money
our power
our class
give me your fear
so i can give you violence
give me your grief
so i can give you my silence
give me your allegiance
so i can give you liberty and justice for some

They cannot ignore us anymore.
They cannot **** us all.
They cannot tear us apart and treat us like garbage on the side of a busy street.
They throw tear gas and gunfire.
Bullets ricochet.
We still keep fighting.
They cannot take away our rights without a fight.
We stand together as one nation fighting for what is ours.
We will never back down.
We will never fall silent.
Police brutality, dictatorship, basic human rights.
We need to be heard.
Our voices will ring.