Secret armies
Secret prisons
Secret wars
Secret orders
Secret evidence
Secret motives
Secret plans
Secret killings

Tell the truth

Bombs over Baghdad
Bombs over families
Bombs over kids
Bombs over places you don't know

Tell the truth

Terrorize a nation
Terrorize a hemisphere
Terrorize the "other"
Terrorize the culture

Tell the truth

Weddings turned into massacres
New-born celebrations a war target
Citizens chosen for assassination
"The world is a battlefield"

In America
White supremacy
Rules
Domestic and abroad
The wallet is clutched
By a white hand
Usually male
White supremacy
Is not talked about
Post-race era
In the middle of
The new Jim Crow
"White lives matter"
They scream
We know
Turn on the TV
It's all we hear
Sacrifice yourself abroad
For the white imperialist
Because don't you know
Your life doesn't matter

Talk is cheap
Agree that the problem is inaction
And do nothing
More comfortable shopping online
Than doing something
That is a waste of their time

Good friends
Bad friends
Not sure what it means
Those who are closest to you
End up being family

Strong ties
Weak ties
The list is running thin
The ones we want to keep
Are running from within

Are we meant
To break each others hearts
When SOs come and go
Friends stay around
Just to tear you down

How many ppl
My age would rather
Jump than swim
How many ppl
How many backdoor deals
Does it take
To rip apart the fabric
Of your society
How many ppl my age
Are fiscally waterboarded
Would rather be boarded up
Than on the outside
Watching everyone get bled dry

You got older
Your face got less and less familiar
Who was the person painted
In your past
You are unsure as you start looking
For more
For girls in boys
And boys in girls
For men in women
And women in men
You look at yourself
Painted in the mirror
At 3AM
Feeling happiness in beauty
But shame in who you are
You want what you are not supposed
To have
You want
Something else

Cracks that bleed
Popping at the seams
A nation of thieves
"Strong vs weak"
This thin veneer
Is catching less ears
More apt to see
Those shed their fear
Casting light
On treacherous plights
Orchestrated by the rich
Maintained by knife
Many are sick
Of the daily strife
A wealthy nation
Where poverty is life

El hombre no saba
Las cosas mas importante
A su hijo
El nino necesitaba
Las palabras de confidente
Que no dijo

She like them slow boys
Those easy to play with
Kind of toys
Those easy to maniuplate
Drowned out
Kind of noise

She likes to play kids
Still one herself
She doesn't see him
Isn't looking for herself
But for the game

Chasing those low points
When you just
Bounce around
Like a falling leaf
But making lots of sound

The heart is pure
Containing the love
It is born with

As time passes
The mind is distanced
From the heart

The body grows
Distorts and contorts
Moving further from the heart

It is the truth that reconnects
The person to the heart
For them and others

The sounds of the city
Put me at ease
Takes me back to my front step
Smoking butts but no trees
The light smell of rain
That would fall like leaves
While I talked to you on the phone
Wishing I was we

I just don't
Want to share
You with
Anyone

I need you
I want you
I think about you
Is that my fault?

Others treat you
Like you are nothing
And pass you around
Like it's a joke

That's why I stay
Inside
Don't let anyone
See me and you hide

You hide
In peaceful places
Bringing unrest
That is fabricated
Trying to mutilate
The movement
From AIM
To King
You disrupted Civil Rights
COINTELPRO
Now you’re back
In Oakland
Waving your gun
Hiding in plainclothes

Two men
Once boys
Now pass each other
Silently on the street
Eyes linger
Sparking distant memories
The body changes
The eyes don't
Eyes then torn apart
Thrown back into their destined paths
Two friends
Once so close together
Thrown in separate directions
Carrying down their own paths
Where did the past go?
It seems to still be so fresh in our memory

Remember as kids
Hanging out in the yard
We never did
Those things promised from the start
Bitter ends
Keep us blinded in the dark
Silver pens
To trace the outlines of our loss

It means a lot to me
The days we used to spend
Sitting back in your car
The radio on 10
What is the count
You always used to say
3-2 two outs
Means only one pitch away
I recline stretched out
Laying down on the seats
You reach back and smile
Handing fruit and sweets
We're on our way now
The trees are passing by
Here come the bumps
Count them 1,2,3,4,5
Now the memory
Starts to fade away
But I can still so clearly
See the wrinkles in your face
Your rough and soft hands
The smile on your face
The kindness in your heart
The warmth of your embrace
I remember you told us
My sister and me
If you're out late at night
And need a place to sleep
Call a cab
Send it my way
Ring the bell
I won't ask I'll just pay
You cared for us
With all your heart
Unconditional love
Is all you taught
I hold you close
Every day
In my heart
You will always stay

Sometimes I need some
One to bounce back off me
Give and take
Tug and pull
But to stretch it out
Gain strength
I'm sick of running
In the same place
Companions that bleed
You dry of your voice
Till youre cornered as a baseless
Beast feeding off negative energy

"Loot"
"Riot"
"Thugs"
These are buzzwords
Buzz in your head
Straight from the Oval Office
To the newsstand held so dear
Your news is contrived
It's fabricated
Who cares if a building window broke
They breaking people's necks
But that's not worth the screen time
Better to focus on broken windows
Than a broken system

The look
Does not matter
It feels like razors inside
Slicing each blade of beautiful grass
The mind is abandoned
Leaving the body
To ache

A radical
Bringing untamed justice
Wherever he step foot
Adamantly pursuing equality
He instilled faith in humanity
So that we may continue his struggle
It is far from over
It's any everyday fight
Today even mirrors
Many of Dr. Kings plights

The scarf caused confusion
To his ignorant thoughts
Consumed by hatred and violence
He rang out eight shots
The media danced
In a pathetic flurry
Talking of "parking spots"
And "those Muslim students"
First things first
It was a hate crime
The killer had been to their house
More than one time
He condescended
He threatened
He talked down
Like bigots do
Yet this is something
The media tends to ignore
Let's focus on something less tense
Like a nice little parking spot
Next it must be said
That these were Americans
Just because they're not white
Doesn't mean they weren't born here
Yet let the media dance continues
Label them simply as "Muslims"
It's easy to forget
When it's just an "other"
So the story obscures
While these three young people are dead
Will Obama come to their defense
Or start another war instead

The beauty of missing you
Is that I can hold you in my memory
That perfect moment
Imagining my hand in yours
My head resting on your neck
There are no words disrupting
No outside thoughts impeding
Just the thought of you

Hide lies
Don't be afraid to
Be afraid
Come in like saran wrap
Leave like tin foil
Got nothing on trade
Except bad ideas
Trying to control with secrets
Behind doors
Companies and rulers of the free
World rulers
TPP will ******* and me

Like a werewolf
I don't think of you
Until the moon comes out
And I turn

Passing you by
Coffees shops
Feeling ashamed
Too scared
To come up
Years later
Look same
Feel different

The Ports go down
Just go down to the Port
To see
Shut it down
Break the break of spirit
Skulls backs necks
Cali needs Cali sees
Cali sick of the ratatat
The unemployment gaps
The uninsured working for
No one knows no ones sure
Break the habit break the rotation
Shut it down
The Ports of OAKLAND

What kind of democracy
Leaves people stranded on the street
Holes in their feet
Holes in their wings
What kind of democracy
Turns the sick away from the doctor
Bleeding on the sidewalk
Told not to come back
What kind of democracy
Sends people off to die
Loading them in wagons
Spewing callous lies
What kind of democracy
Takes away the right to vote
Hold elections as a hoax
Hoping no one sees their nose

Chin Up
Head Up
Chest Out
Shoulders Raised
Back Straight
Decisive Walk
Look Important

Chin Down
Head Down
Chest Caved
Shoulders Slumped
Back Crooked
Unsure Footsteps
Look Unimportant

Chin Straight
Head Straight
Chest Relaxed
Shoulders Comfortable
Back Flexible
Slow Steps
Look Calm

Scared of ghosts
In your dreams
I go toe to toe
Everyday
I live where you don't go
I blow smoke in their absence
I fill the ghosts with trees
So they can cough and breathe
What they once kicked you out for
I blow it back in their face like Cole
Train runs through this room
I'll go toe to toe with your ghosts
I'll laugh in their face while I sit in their place
Doing everything they scolded you for
I'll do it for you
While you stay trapped in your dreams
I'll bring it to life
For you and me and the rest of the family

Waking up
In someone else's skin
In someone else's city
These dreams crumble
Searching the ground
For someone else's crumbs
They just moved in
From the burbs
Now others move out
Not to the burbs though
Not if your dough low
Not when this is where your roots grow
Planted seeds sprouted trees
You can't just uproot
Because someone else now finds the soil attractive
What about when it was radioactive
When pockets weren't as packed then
Now it's a forced migration
These dreams like buildings crumble

If I was a child
Barely grown up
Would you resent me for my mistakes
Or learn how to love

When I was a teenager
Failing in school
Did you think I was stupid
Or just unamused

After graduating college
Now a bit older
Are you ashamed I'm unemployed
Or of the world I'm to shoulder

If I was 45
Leading your same life
Would you scold me for my faults
Or praise me that I tried

When I'm a bit older
And my hair turns grey
Will memories of you
Be the best or worst days

Shed your bias
Shed your fears
Go on ahead
Its ok
Shed some tears

Now get up
Pick your getup
Smile wide
Try a walk on the wild side

Put up your hair
Or let it down
Pick up the lipstick
Paint your frown

Get some blush
A little mascara
Do up your brows
Get it goin Leon Sierra

Put on your dress
With your favorite song
Don't be ashamed
That you're wearing a thong

My heart is aching and breaking
Twisting and shaking
I feel it pulsing
Like the ground is quaking
I'll rip out my eyes
So that I can't see
I'll cut off my fingers
So that I can't feel
I'll blow out my ears
So that I can't hear
I'll cut out my tongue
So that there's no taste
The only thing I'm left with
Is an abandoned state
Hopeless and helpless
I sit here and wait
The pain of my mind
Jailbird and bait

They cramp your body
Into a box
Until you are
Disfigured
Then they open the box
To dump you out

Wet streets
Buildings crumble under humans
Two
Who cannot decide
Thousands must
Die

Here I am
I need friends
More
MORE
I need likes
I need looks
I need love
Come to me
Come
See
SEE

Where did my baby go
She left me here waiting so patiently
The person who came back
Flaunts the same body
But those eyes are haunting me
Vacant of the love once there
Changed like seasons
You stumble around like a bad dream
If I feed you
It does not satiate your resentment
If I touch you
I am but hands through a screen

I’m sitting there, just thinking, thinking about you
About my life, about the bottle, about being high
Again you slip, back into my mind, thinking thinking
The music that replaced, the empty time, that would have been
Shots after shots, sip after sip, until I’m blind
I had to get up, take a breath, and leave the room
I floss and look, into the mirror, and smile hesitantly
I fill my lungs with smoke, close the bottle, and go to sleep

I stay calm
Even in evil places
I still see all the faces
But don't let it faze me
I stay rooted and strong
Even in the Devils lair
I cry for the wrongs
And prepare all the saviors
I used to get it all wrong
Pushed on by the anger
I swallowed pride down
Letting love replace fear
Today I move on
From replaying the useless
I'll catch cold tongues
But then set them loose again

RIP in SC

History only repeats
Until the lessons are learned
Keeping faith in the streets
Not locked up at home
They killed the abolitionists
Years and years ago
Here we are with iPhones
The fight is still going on

The child walked
About the city
Scouring its streets
Without a care
Popping in and out
Darting about
Dancing through
Until there it was
A green stone
Shaped like an egg
With a single thunderbolt
Striking through the middle
The child
Curious
Circled the stone
But before long temptation overcame
The child pounced upon the stone
Holding it close
Examining its details
Until there was a flash of light
The area exploded in white and blue
The child lost consciousness
As the soul drifted above the body
And with a bang the light disappeared
Awakening the body lay on the street
The soul had re-entered
But the person was not the same
There was a spark inside not felt before
Scared the thing darted away
In and out of alleys
Something felt different
There was something building inside
The thing was becoming sad now lost in the city
A place once familiar but now seeming foreign
It ran to the outskirts
The sky getting darker
Finding a lake the thing peered in
With a howl it recoiled back
What had it become
What was staring back
Confused, angry, and sad
It could take it no more
The charge built to a head
A tremendous thunderbolt lit the sky over the city
On that day the transformation had occurred
The reflection of the jagged yellow fur sparkled in the moonlight
There was no return to the life that had once passed
Jolteon was born

Parking at the beach
Watching birds fly
Gazing at my backyard
Daydreaming
Driving at night
Sitting on a grassy hill
Watching people play
Using the grinder
Listening to an old favorite
Mixing a sauce together
Watching cars pass at night
Hearing birds outside
Walking to the corner store
Sitting next to those I love without talking
Laughing
Getting lost in memories
Waking up and stretching
“I just want the simple things”

Walking in The City
There is pain
There is sorrow
There is poverty
There is neglect
It is hard
For some men
To smile
At other men
Or to smile
At all