Mentally, i'm uncomfortable

Physically, i'm uncomfortable

Financially, i'm uncomfortable

I am an uncomfortable black man!
So yeah, i want to give up.

Until i remembered my sticky note on the mirror... "Have faith".
                                            So I keep walking

Cracked China cup
At a chipped table
Stained cloth dressing
Do you still see
Beautiful
Tell me now
As broken candles
Burn
        On
Down
Broken things
See broken things
And cracks hide
Truth
I see you
This crack’ed thing
And I see you
Beautiful
Lovely you
Cracked
But not outdone
They try to
Break you
Take you
Because you’re the only
One
A cracked cup
That runneth over
But
Can still hold your
Own
Oh precious
How you’ve grown
Setting a place that
You deserve
I pray that
You are filled
Cracks only
Show
When you can’t
Hold

But I’d gladly hold
You

Faded glory
Prayers on slim fit jeans
Foreign to victory
Leading to second story pleas

Can you hear her?
Despairing with whispered screams
But tears don’t answer
The many questions they bring

Faded glory
$20 when on sale
See the story
Of the strongest of the frail

Can you see her?
Wishes to fly, though she barely crawls
There’s a glimmer
Prevailing amidst the falls

Faded glory
Well worn and stretched to fit
Constant weathering
Pushing on till something rips

Can you feel her?
Is there a choir that recognizes her song?
Are you a singer?
Are your jeans ripped but still on?

Maybe that's what I've been doing wrong
So fiercely I've been holding on
Perhaps this is why I struggle so
Why my happy ending never shows
I want to prove to the world this love is true
But when I stop and think I've never been happy with you
I told myself over and over "it's just me"
"You're wanting too much"
"This is enough"
But maybe.... just maybe
It isn't... and that's ok...

Reaching, rising,
touching, striving,
grasping success,
don't accept less.

I strive
with optimism
for the achievement
of my aspirations
to achieve joy and happiness.