1.
Peace starts with me and the people that I talk to
Love is as old as the hills that I walk through
Freedom is expensive and you’re gonna have to argue
Justice only shows its head when life has double-crossed you
The lessons come with patience and a price that’s unexpected
But happiness is with me every second
We’re connected.
2.
I stand in the wind both arms in the air
hands to the sky, chin high unaware
One being, flesh & bone seeing life in his eyes
sunlight be the whole key invited to rise
like sight to the blind or light to the sightless
vision to the young women, men & the righteous
now we gonna light this torch with the passion
fire on the rise these hands gonna pass it
head in the clouds how long has it lasted
face in the past both hands unmask it
step out the race break away unfastened
chill for a minute with your legs on the hassett
speak til you’ve lost all blood in your cheek
fight for the weak, life’s bleek for the meek
try’n to plug these leaks going week after week
my hunger for love gon’ flood these streets
I’ll keep to the script, tight lipped with the secret
frequent the sequence known to defeat shit
freak with sinking ships thinking I’m deep
thinking I’mma walk both sides of the street
my wise poetry hides potency openly
speaking real words til the world starts noticing
dig with a pen, these seeds grow hope
just feed what you want and starve what you don’t
break bread with your best friend, breath with your brethren –
listen to the lessons – they’ve been referenced
next in the line, you’re destined to rise
this light gon’ shine
my life in the sky
draw heat from your whole heart, march to the beat
compete with yourself to clean what you think
speak to your weakness, get your holes filled in
give to the children what you been building
love your brothers, all race and all colors
no hope in the world if we don’t love others
3.
The day we die we’ll realize how silly we were
Until that day we’ll think but never be sure
We’ll remember our roots that stretch through and through
That we have the same baseline, heart rhythm too
We’ll see how fast the years passed by and wonder if
we lived it to the fullest or did we blunder it
We won’t be concerned about money
We’ll be thinking about our family
We’ll be smiling at our friends
transcending gravity
The day we all die and say bye to the world
we’ll realize how silly we were
for sure.
4.
You’re the light in my eyes
You’re the sight in my life
You’re a blinding surprise until I close them at night
You’re my wheel on the runway
landing at home
Where the cardinals chirp
to the beat of this poem
5.
I remember holding a pen-cil
getting started back in kindergarten it was intense still
I’d sit ’til I mastered the print while my friends studied the sten-cil
My lines got nice as I worked it
from block letters to cursive
my classmates copied off the wordsmith
but grades were not the purpose
A’s were just my service
the days would pass I’m sure it’s
how a hobby starts to surface
Then I turned up the ways
I could turn out a phrase
My knowledge grew on college ruled I could fit more words on a page
this amateur walked from pencils to Manitowac Bic pens
It instilled some big grins
I’d read what I’d write share it with kids and get friends
While some sat limp in their chair like a test dummy
I felt I had an outlet that let out the best of me
I read more and saw Dr. Seuss as truth
the places I’d go if I grew my roots
and I loved The Grinch it’s
a mastery of balancing Halloween with Christmas
the green monster sponsored me to write some stories
with some children’s poetry that I expect was boring
But I wasn’t up for recognition fame or exhibition
just a game to stretch the little thoughts envisioned into diction
I’d hit the pages with the best imagination
writing nonsense in a way that would last from days to decades
still thoughts flipped fast to pass as animation
ink for the script but lead for the test page
I knew the best ways to skewer essays
get the best grades and start the next phase
I make change in the wake plus make what’s in front of me
I try to stand tall to get these words from under me
6.
She’s my angel out of thin air. She carries thoughts of contentment from which the smell of Spring receives its sweetness. The dew drops fall more thickly from the petals that surround. The clouds roll as oceanic ripples from her heartbeat. She is epic.
7.
i weigh the sun rise as mourning for the day that came before it
and take exception to the soul that might ignore it as expected
the honor in the moment when the night is pushed to margins
is the heart of all beginnings when a dream is resurrected
i’ve seen it many times respected double takes and second glances
bring advances to the spectrum known to limit my perception
engulfed, adrift in memories of unprotected yesterday
the lessons play a stringing web of tangible connection
we dance between the hours where the moments seem to carry on
the mechanized occurence of this atmospheric marathon
if the warmth that i embrace can only settle on me briefly
i’ll pay the movements to the music for the heat that never leaves me
trade winds with breath blessings for the melodies created, scale the measures of tomorrow in the timing once balanced
rise to the tunes plucked on latitude arrangements and represent the harmony erupting unchallenged
if destiny can strike a chord elusive to progression few could hesitate to bring the message from the swirling currents
but expectedly the rhythms scintillate with hurling purpose
and can dignify occurence of the moments we perfected
8.
the rain
like tiny drops of heavens
falling down to all of us
tapping my shoulders
wetting my head with love
feeding the soil and my soul
9.
fire flies
fidgeting flights of twilight
jittery whimsical sights
flashing signals of life
a quick glimpse for tired eyes
flittering fluttery heights
shining slowly
flashing hiding
flying glowing
making their rounds at nights
tiny invaders
silent indicators
rising with flare
riders on an invisible carousel of air
quietly drifting
calmly shifting
at dusk we all come here
10.
I’ve learned
it’s easy to make life look normal
it’s easy to make life look fun
it’s easy to make life look.
I’ve learned
it’s possible to go far
it’s possible to change course
it’s possible to.
I’ve learned
we all are on our way
we all are important
we all are.
I’ve learned
there’s a way for you
there’s a way for them
there’s a way.
I’ve learned
you have to sing
you have to try
you have to.