…the possibility of my honesty
but you say it is not about race
when boys die
and mothers are put away
protecting those laws
i wonder about honesty
and how much worth it really has
because it is not possible to educate
everyone out from ignorance
but those stuck to that floor
are now legislating from their prisons
and we the rest are too high
to fight such teenage foolishness
a boy is dead
even if the death was not intentioned
the crime was
we the righteous
who have no control over anything anymore
leaving to others the responsibility
we the reluctant refuse to put on ourselves
a mother is in prison
punished for what freed a man
who took the life of that boy
who very well might be her own
we the dispassionate
pressing a button to spread an idea
when the streets should be filled
to fight hypocrisy
not racism
we the hungry, the tired, the poor
too busy fighting the symptoms
when the cause is so obvious
the machine created by the superclass
built by everyone
controlled by a few
keeping us so fascinated
we the relaxed have now come to crave comfort
just because progress is made
does not mean progress should slow, or cease
does not mean we should not focus on making progress still
we the proud used to live up to our standards
acted with common sense
or at least believed we did
had integrity, hated lawyers
valued a handshake and a hug
more than we did a signature
even if we never valued life
in our wild west cowboy developmental years
we the honorable knew enough decency
to at least judge on right and wrong
we once had a conscience
then again, as I think back,
i lived on a white street
the only black family that ever moved in
just as quickly got burned out in months
and now another boy is dead
and a mother is in prison
and I think maybe we haven’t changed
for the worse
if the roots of a nation are
sown and reaped in patriarchy
then change is not possible
options being
either
the infected die off
or
the rest make it a habit
to create new habits
that rise above and overcome the old
who will, should never go away
and we the stubborn need to understand
that life is about the constant work
of not ridding the human condition of
ego
but
tempering, controlling
taming the beast
a boy is dead
a mother is in prison
a man is free
af
(R I P)
…”we allow our ignorance to prevail upon us and make us think we can survive alone, alone in patches, alone in groups, alone in races, even alone in genders”…maya angelou