The River of Blood

The river of blood marks the final battle
Where the inhumanity of one man to another
Now turns into a war no one will survive

We both look at each other and know
There is only one outcome and only one solution
One of us must die here and now

We battle on the beaches and banks of the river
The battle rages on and we move over valleys and fields
Driven by the one and only thing that will satisfy us both

To see the other dead and floating in the river of blood
Feeding the river the hate that has nurtured us for years
As I choke the life out of the unjust as I serve as judge and jury

The river of blood has many names and the tide refuses to ebb
As generations rise to give me strength to avenge the injustice
We all suffered at your hands because the day of reckoning

Is finally at hand and the river needs to be fed
There is no justice in killing you and it is more unjust to
let you live as a stand and watch the river swallow your body and soul

End Of My Rope

The lifeless
body
hanging
at
the end
of my
rope
once
was a
king
once
a scholar
once
a leader

now
the
last bit
of
life
drains
from my
bloody
fingers
that
snapped the
neck of
my enemy

I have
finally
reached
peace
knowing
the battle
that never
needed to
have been
fought
is
finally
over

for
my enemy
and
for
me

I Am

I am many things
I am nothing
I am a circle
I am a straight line
I am good days
I am the worst of times
I am a mountain
I am the bottom of the well
I am a hot summer day
I am a frozen winter night
I am the winner of the race
I am the runner in last place
I am all that you see
I am the darkness of your dreams
I am all that I am
I am all that I will never be

The Village Elder

The village elder sat by the fire and waited as each one came
To ask about the world entire before they set out for fame

Tell me elder will I find riches beyond my wildest dreams
The elder looked and said anything can happen or so it seems

The young one responded to what he thought had to be a game
Tell me said the elder tell me what is my name

Why you are the elder of which it is said
All things important are kept in your head

Many stories are told said the elder so true
But what is the answer of that I asked of you

Your riddles confuse me said the young to the wise
The elder said then how do you know the truth from the lies

The young grew restless and angered quite quickly
But no response came from the elder so sickly

You cannot be as wise as what they say of you
Learn truth from lies said the elder that you must do

One by one they approached and then all left in shame
For no one bothered to ask the elder his name

As he sat alone the elder had done his task
And said to get answers to questions all one must do is ask

my tribe

my tribe
has
many
colors
and
welcomes
one
and all
no
distinction
made for
whether
you are
hairy
or even
bald
slim
and fat
are
welcomed
so all
feel
free to
join
we all
will
band
together
in
my tribe
one
and
all

strong

the look on my face
tells a history of
men who were strong
when the world was weak

inhumanity to your
brothers is weakness
not victory and true
strength is mercy when you win

fear of God when you doubt
love for one another when
all teach you only to hate

the look on my face
still will always tell the story
of my father and grandfather
and their fathers before them

and that story will always be
victory in time of defeat
humility when we are on top
and generations of men who are strong

Black is

Black is
more than
a color

more than
a race

and much
more than
darkness

Black is not
evil
and it is
not angry

Black
is sexy and
mysterious

For some
it is
forbidden
and for
others
it is
the ultimate
seduction

Black is
basic
and elegant
and classy

For those
who both
love and
hate it

Black is
still beautiful

the one

whenever a child is born
the elders gather to see
if that child is the one

the one who was promised
to lead them all to a better
way of life

the one who would be
good enough to ease
the pain and suffering

the one who they could
all look to with pride and
know they would all overcome

and many have been close
to almost being the one
many have come close to the promise

most however fall short
of leading an entire people
out of darkness

especially when many
of those same people
hate the light

and now that the ranks
of the elders can count
me among them

again we all gather
anxious to see
if this child is the one

yet knowing inside
we all may never live
to see the day the one arrives

Love is more than words

The true definition of love
Will never be put into words
Because love is a feeling
That is spoken from the heart

Love is a look that says more
Than a thought ever will
And songs from the heart
Fall silent in the presence of love

the struggle

to all the brothers
involved in the struggle
realizing revolution
never sleeps
when somewhere
someone is doing
without

to all the sisters
fighting for their
voice to be heard
when they are
not singing
the revolution will
never end

together the
daughter of all
creation and the
son of the universe
continue to change
the world one
battle at a time

average

Just once I would like to be average
To know what it is like not to be looked at
Like I was either Superman or Public Enemy Number One
Because like it or not that is the way the world looks at me

When I walk down the street no one sees a father
Who loves his children and misses his wife
Many see a person who will try to harm them
Or a person who leaps tall buildings like some freak of nature

Being neither athlete or assassin I stand out
Only because that is how you see me
Just once I would like to be average
And to know how that would feel

The 75-year-old Black Woman

The sounds coming from your church Sunday morning
Are brought to you thanks to that 75-year-old Black woman

You know who she is because she raised you and your sister
She raised your mother while her best friend raised your father

Call her Mama, Madea, MaMaw or Aintee
You still know who she is and you know what she has done

She taught you everything you know and you act like
She never taught you a thing

She will outlive us all because she has always been right with God
And if our wives, our sisters and our mothers are lucky

Then one day they will be that 75-year-old Black woman
Who will teach another generation everything they know

Black and Red


black and red
shared
common beliefs
separated
by many lands
and seas

neither knowing
the other exists
until brought
together by
a shared enemy

both black and red
know
the earth is
mother
and spirits of
ancestors
are with us
always

both black and red
teach
time does
not control us
because
past present
future all
happen together

and black and red
knew
only
animals sing
alone

from generation
to generation
the legends
told stories of
what was to
come

black and red
united
to survive

the educated one

thanks to all who tried to teach me
never giving up and trying to reach me
for taking me places I have never been
and showing me in life you play to win

with less respect than a local preacher
you chose instead to be my teacher
with tattered books and broken blackboard
you said work for things you cannot afford

now you see one educated
world travelled man who graduated
who knows for sure one thing is true
none of this happens without help from you

what the slave cannot see

the slave sees freedom
with no idea of what it means
shackles are mental and physical
beatings like all physical pain is temporary
but without knowledge the slave is captured forever
long after the locks and chains have been removed

since the slave does not understand freedom
the end of slavery is not the end incarceration
it only adds to the confusion of not knowing
what it is like to live life without limits and chains and boundaries
to live life as the oppressor and not as the oppressed
to be able to determine your own destiny

the heart wants what it wants

I know you are not good for me
but the heart wants what it wants

no words can describe the pain
you have put me through

and despite all the sorrow
my heart still wants what it wants

my suffering only brings you joy
my tears bring out your worst

as I run from you screaming
I end up at your door

with my heart in my hands
for you to destroy once again

try as I might to hate you
the heart wants what it wants

time to rest

she worked hard all day
scrubbing and cleaning for others

she worked hard all night
cooking and caring for her own

she was tired and everyone knew it
but no one seemed to care

she told them all
it was time to rest

being the mother of all creation
can even wear the strongest woman down

as she rode the bus to and from work that day
she decided enough was enough

she was tired and everyone knew it
but this time she refused to get up

the runaway

you shackled
me
i broke
free

you tortured
me
i suffered
for
a moment

then
you thought
you did
me
a favor

by turning
me against
my
father and
mother
and my
sisters and
brothers

you
only united
us and
showed the
world
how primitive
you are

i shuffled
and you
thought
i
was
lazy

it was
so your
food would
be
cold when
you ate

you thought
because
some of
us
stayed
that we
all did
not
run
away

we
all ran
away
when
you tore
us from
our
homes

you
can torture
our
bodies
but you
can never
touch
our
souls

how to win the race

we all gather
at the starting line
each of us knowing
that we must run
the race
none of us knowing
how to win
the race

once
the race
went to the swift
then it went
to those who could
last

now
the race goes
to those
who know
someone
not those
who know
something

for those who came before me

this is for those who came before me
from Phyllis Wheatley to Nikki Giovanni
and everyone in between
my heartfelt thank you for breathing
soul into a beast that was uncaring

to James Weldon Johnson who taught us all
to lift every voice and sing to Paul Laurence Dunbar
who taught everyone true genius has color
to Maya Angelou and Langston Hughes
because elegance in words and life has meaning

I say thank you because those who
came before me are the reason
you are reading this right now
and those who will come after me
will give you reason to read on

the tree

there is a famous
photo from
Marion, Indiana
showing two
men who were lynched

a few years ago I met
the man who would
have been the third man
lynched that night
very late in his life

he was grateful he was
given a second chance
and he was determined to
leave a positve mark
and he spoke about that night

the years had faded
but his memory had not
and he recalled that night
when he was just a boy
and how he prayed and prayed

that he would be spared
and unlike the other two
he was let go
and continued to tell
of that night and that tree

grits and greasy greens

things you threw away
we used to get stronger

what you thought were weeds
nourished our bodies every day

efforts to give us scraps
made us bigger and faster

and you still wonder how
this happened

what you did not want
only made us stronger

now you do not want us
guess what happens next

Looking For a Leader

Whenever a Black person
Does something stupid

People will look for a Black leader
To explain what happened

Try looking at the stupid Black person
Who did the stupid thing

Instead of some Black leader
Who can only speak for himself

And has no authority to speak
For a Black man like me

the church in the basement

when I was small my grandmother
used to tell us about the time when
our church would meet in her basement

they had no where else to go
so she opened her home to others
the way God opens his house to us

and I would imagine them
singing and praising in the cramped
dark basement raising their arms to Jesus

all the time wondering how
the lady who was the rock of our family
could also be the foundation of a congregation

as I got older the lessons she taught
became the building blocks for my life
and her love is now my foundation

and all these years later
she is up in heaven singing praises
with God sitting in the pulpit

The Train to Freedom

No whistles or platforms
Or signs hailing towns

The greatest railroad ever
Moved the most valuable cargo of all

Freedom, the most priceless of all gifts
As rare as the cost of the many lives lost

And despite efforts to stop the train
The desire to be free continued to ring

At night when all is cool and still
The train contiues if you dare to ride

learning to read

back when
it was
a
crime
to teach
slaves to read
we
fought
and
died
for
the right
to
learn

now
the
crime
is the
children's
chidren
of the
children's
children
of the
children's
children

choose to
not learn
for free
what
others
paid for
with their
lives

Modern Middle Passage

lasting images
from the
Middle Passage

generations lost
to an
unforgiving sea

and a
more
unforgiving
land

nearly
five hundred
years from
then to now

nearly
twenty five
generations
of fathers
having sons
ripped from
their arms


current images
from the
Modern Middle Passage

generations lost
to an
unforgiving society

and a
more
unforgiving
system

nearly
fifteen million
fathers and
sons struggling
to know
each other

chains

chains around my neck and collar
forced to kneel and made to holler

shackled my wrists while you beat me
your attempt to try and teach me

to follow your rules and obey
it taught me how to run away

you may own my body today
my unchained soul is miles away

The Sound of Drums

the sound of the drums
is faint
now
barely an
echo

what started as
business
for them
was
genocide to us

their lust for profit
produced
something much
different

they wanted
muscle
we gave them
music
the wanted
devastation
we gave them
dance

the sound of the drums
is faint
but the beat
will
live on
forever