It's so expensive to be Black in America

The luxury ferry from Africa to America

Cost our freedom

But any objection

Cost our lives

Working on those beautiful plantations

Cost our voices

But any objection

Cost our lives

Sharecropping in the open air

Cost our financial foundation

But any objection

Cost our lives

Worshipping in the warm balconies

Cost our religious freedom

But any objection

Cost our lives

Riding in the cool back of the buses

Cost our dignity

But any objection

Cost our lives

ANY objection

Costs our lives

Running with headphones

Death sentence

Reading in a car

Death sentence

Sitting on your porch

Death sentence

Sleeping in your bed

Death sentence

Selling CD's

Death sentence

Selling cigarettes

Death sentence

Comforting a friend

Death sentence

Buying Skittles

Death sentence

Walking while Black

Talking while Black

Dancing while Black

Singing while Black

Jogging while Black

Driving while Black

Playing while Black

Studying while Black

Meeting while Black

Eating while Black

Trying while Black

Crying while Black

Death sentence

Death sentence

Death sentence

Death sentence

Shotguns

Ropes

Batons

Knees

We can't breathe

But asked to pay more

With life

And breath

And blood

And pain

And wails

And cries

And tears

And anguish

And injustice

And intolerance

And bias

And profiling

As indignity

After indignity

Is poured over our heads

And runs into our eyes

And seeps into our hearts

And stains our souls

As heads explode into rage

As eyes erupt into hate

As hearts explode into venom

As souls explode into violence

The cost keeps growing

As more lives are claimed

In the name of justice

That we were told

Was ours to begin with

But have to pay

For the right

To earn the right

To live it

The cost is too high

Asked of pockets

Already devoid

Of any more funds

Of hearts and souls

Already bankrupt

Of minds and spirits

Bone dry

It costs too much

To be Black in America

It's too expensive 

To be Black in America

But where can we go?

This is our home!

This is what was built

By our very own hands

On the broken backs 

Of our forebears

Mortared with the blood

Of our martyrs

And cemented together

By what we've overcome

The cost is high

But the value incalculable

Expensive, yet priceless

Tangible, but just out of reach

Reaching all the way back

To the mothers and fathers

Who sat on those shores

And wailed as their children

Departed in ships

For shores unknown

Who paid in despair

Who never forgot

We rise in payment

In retribution

In vengeance

In rage

Not backing down

But demanding to be heard

To be reimbursed

For our expenses

The Psalmist 6-14-20

#icantbreathe

i can't breathe

my life is being choked out

i can't breathe

the noose of society tightens

i can't breathe

i want to go running but 

i can't breathe

i want to sit in my car and read but

i can't breathe

i want to make a living but

i can't breathe

i want to sing, and dance and enjoy life but

i can't breathe

they laughed as they pursued me so

i can't breathe

i just gave birth to a black son, Oh God!

i can't breathe

i want to take a walk to clear my head but

i can't breathe

im told i can't get angry because 

i can't breathe

i pull at the shackles around my protest because

i can't breathe

they fired tear gas at me, so now

i can't breathe

Lord, what am i to do, Lord what am i to do,

i can't breathe!!!

my heart is breaking because

i can't breathe

i can't breathe

i can't breathe

i can't breathe

What happened to my dreams?

I feel the need to go off by myself sometimes
And dream
To be somewhere else
Where no one is
But me
To think thoughts not normally normal
To dream dreams too big for reality
To fan flames inextinguishable
I want to skip through moons
And dance through galaxies
I want to swim with trees
And climb into atoms
I'd like to fly with stones
And run with sand
I want my mind to be as free
As it was when I was a child
When it had no limits

#BlackLivesMatter

I know you feel uncomfortable when you hear #blacklivesmatter
But imagine how we feel when we're told we don't
We're constantly told we don't matter
By the news
By clothing designers
By awards shows
By historical documents
By the movie industry
By advertisements
By employers
By realtors
By law enforcement
Yet you want us to be quiet
And not react
As we are being led like sheep to slaughter
Yet you want a stiff upper lip
As we watch senseless brutality
Against our people
Yet you want us to stand idly by
As we clean up yet another bloodstain
Yes, all lives matter
But we need you to get off our backs
Remove the shackles from our feet
Take the nooses from around our necks
And acknowledge that #blacklivesmatter just as much!

From the ground up

From the ground up...
(penned February 10, 2017)

I am so a part of God
And He is so a part of me
We cannot be separated
Even Paul said
Neither death nor life
Nor height nor depth
Shall separate me
From God's Love,
And because God is Love
I cannot be separated from Him.


He built me from the ground up
He took dust
And in the loving loom of His Fingers
Knit a suit and formed me.


To be sure it was the perfect fit,
He breathed His own breath into me
To make sure every nook and cranny
Was filled
Fully filling me
With
His
Own
Self.


Because I am bone of His Bone
I cannot be broken,
Except by Him.
And should He need to do so
He is the Healer and the Potter
To bring me back to wholeness.


I am flesh of His Flesh
Born to greatness
A child of the King
Supreme DNA
Is my makeup
I am made from the strongest stuff.


I am the apple of His Eye
He leans to hear my call
I am embedded in His Heart
Placed squarely in His Palm
Under His constant gaze


I receive a daily infusion of grace
As I am washed in the water of His Word.
His angels encamp around me
And goodness and mercy are my cleanup crew.

I am, after all, His Workmanship,
The chick to His Hen,
The clay to His Potter.
Why wouldn't He take such care?
He built me from the ground up...