I blink
and I see
broken promises
creating a dense fog over my city
a collection of the dreams
given up by the
tired, overworked
underpaid masses
I blink
and I see
future stars
dimming their internal lights
that shine from the inside
giving fellowship to
city lights; late nights
and the over packed dime
drinking; drugging
sounds like freestyling
countless dreams washed
with the bed sheets
they’re climbing in
birthing a rootless seed
wondering why they fall so easily
never understanding
darkness is what they were
birthed from
I blink
and I see
youth
mislead
mistreated
misunderstood
social beheading
opportunity knocks
can’t be heard
mummified corpses exist
wrapped in linens
made of black history pages
ripped from the books
black on black crime
can not exist in their minds
if they don’t know black
ignorance fills vessels
organs; pipe
speak chords
to a hip-hop beat
I blink
and I see
corporations, marketers
outfitting; supplying
military uniforms
to the street soldiers
willing to wear the shit
they see advertised in the videos
I’ll start from the top
work my way to the toes
oversized baseball cap
check
doo rag
check
throwback t
check
white t that doubles as a skirt
check
big ass fake watch
check
jeans 3 sizes too large
check
airforces
check
add up all of the checks
you get none
in the outcome
corporations get all of that shit
checks
cash
credit
ebt
then we getting shot over
cases of mistaken identity
buckshot shells
coming from these dudes
using our bodies
like walking billboards
we aint getting any money for it
I blink
and I see
no role models
for our future
think about it
in 10yrs
that 15yr old
right there
in front of you
will be doing our taxes
cooking our food
driving our trains and airplanes
running businesses
marathons
government
providing the cure for racism, cancer and homelessness
or they could fill up
our graves
memories
and penitentiaries
crossroads
emerge from the darkness
age provides guidance
through experience
youth will try both sides
I blink
and I see
my future walking on
dirty streets
where the sidewalk meets the Boulevard
Dudley Station
packet transactions
go off in front of me
like a brick of firecrackers
copper topped roofs
oxidized through the years
covers the masses
as they congregate for their holy commune
commute to the lord
now standing at the gates of eternal life
marching two by two
herding their spirits into boats
almost existing on an island
so many seagulls about
ocean breeze replaced by T bus exhaust
police sirens
ambulance
primal
screams
all that does not
belong to me
I blink
and I see
myself crying for a city
that now belongs to me
