AUDACITY
It is a courageous battle
We suffer and fight,
To reach lovingly for darkness
While hungering for the light,
Minimizing our wrongs
Hostile and arrogant when we are right,
As we secretly gaze into the depth
Of unspoken pain and rage,
For something…someone warmer than the cold
We search desperately beyond this cage,
In the poetry of sorrow
We speak our hope and hurt to the stars,
Yes, we dare to dream
Behind Prison bars,
To rediscover the beauty
Beneath our scars,
The Audacity to hope
Within lock and key,
To dive fearlessly within
The heart’s turbulent sea,
Reemerging through its predictable chaos
Our mind and soul in harmony,
Valuing who we are and
Understanding whom we could be,
Though physically defined..
…Spiritually free,
I once was blind
But now I see,
The tiniest seed of positivity
If nurtured becomes a tree,
Through pain we learn a truth
Do no harm by speech or touch,
To not pre-judge anyone
Be of service, lift someone up,
Reach across barriers, be a bridge
In the least a crutch,
The Audacity to give a hand, make amends
To those we caused grief,
With humility, patience and forgiveness
We repent, atone and turn over a new leaf,
The Audacity to bring healing
Where we caused the most hurt,
Hold ourselves accountable when we were
Criminal, abusive or an unloving jerk,
To revisit and restore the places
And spaces where we did the most dirt,
Seeking remorse takes brutal honesty
But with Audacity, we are committed to the work,
Yes we were a self-destructive lot
Infecting our communities with violence –
Theft and drugs,
Infesting our schools with gangs and thugs,
Desensitized to death
Indifferent to loving hugs,
From Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde
In the blink of an eye,
The Frankenstein alter-ego
We use to deny
How we would reject the truth
So that we could live the lie,
Create sub-culture rituals
When “Homie Die,”
Forgot how to laugh
Toxic-masculinity wouldn’t let us cry,
Truth be told no, we never gave up
We initially failed to try,
From positive role model
To act like Dr. Strange,
Walking by the church
But running with the gangs,
Now we have the AUDACITY to flash college degrees
When someone asks “Do we Bang?”
Wiser now we fellowship courageously
Devoted to change,
Working toward our future goals
While achieving short range,
Indeed, the Audacity to examine “The Abstract”
That is our being and make sense,
Creating Picasso’s
Out of consequence,
As we water the grass
On this side of the fence,
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dearest Lover and Loved
We enjoy a love in which philosophers
Have struggled
To decipher since the beginning of time,
This beautiful emotion
Which scientist have stumbled over
In their effort to dissect and define
All alone with their disastrous theories
Unknowing that the chemistry of love
Is a pure heart and strong mind,
The fact that I see…sunsets in your eyes
Is proof good love is not blind,
You complement my soul
And you are wonderfully kind,
Historically man has fought many battles
To discover treasures easy to find,
Love cannot be restrict by color or shape
As rebellious love loves outside the lines,
In the depth of my heart and soul
Our combined love exists,
Together we create
Endless blis