My Dear Rose 6/16/14
In this land we seem to hide from life,
However in the fog we dream of life.
Many find an answer with a sharp knife.
Though my heart is only content with strife.
With sudden fears I can no longer bare,
I dream of the roses I may not touch.
As I watch the flames burn, no longer share
This feeling as if I am on a crutch.
Later, I think on thee, she I suppose.
“It takes life to love life” said L. Matlock.
This quickly reminded me of my Rose.
No being can truly be hard as rock.
What’s to happen when I’m gone my dear Rose?
We shall have to see; she had to propose.
- Shawn Myers
- Quinn Singer
Sliding through and between
Code switching takes on a whole new meaning
She's speaking--I'm feeling
She's moving--I'm frozen
Her words--I didn't say that
Her actions-- I didn't do that
What did I come in here for?
What did you say?
Who am I?
I have to retrace my steps
Go back to where we split.
Face the reason, collect up my parts
I use tape these days--
the glue rips the skin when we pull apart again
It doesn't hold as well, but
We need space from one another every so often.
But now I'm driving & her foots on the gas
And now she's taking a selfie & I'm her filter
And I feel sick & now she's smiling
So I get thirsty & she orders a whiskey
So I stand to leave & she walks us to the dance floor
Dancing
And I finally feel my center
and we fall in this rhythm
and for a moment we're connected.
In this moment we are clear.
Slow Dancing
Special moments
can be a slow dance
on an early evening.
The years together
with laughter and
tears,
kept us holding on
to each other,
Even though there
were days
when the music did
spin
too fast.
Yet, when the song
ended,
we both knew
that our steps together
Were in perfect
harmony.
- Michael Greenberg
Sorry That I’m Black
- Morne Curry
I'm Sorry that i'm black
I'm sorry that it's so hard for me to look back
Look back on how harsh they used to treat us
Trying to make extinction out of the blacks while they used us
I'm sorry that we keep getting beat
Physically with both hands weapons and feet
I'm sorry that now another generation growing up knowing nothings getting old
Getting picked on and told stories of their families being sold
Can we be free?
Got chains on my feet moving forward trying to succeed
I'm sorry that I keep repeating the word black
To be forcefully seeing and knowing.
Why I can't go back
Mindfully knowing from another three years something might change
Maybe more voices might speak up not mentally but physically change the ways
And we wonder why humanity has now grown aggressive
Aggressive enough of the government may have progressed us
I'm sorry that we have no order
That our blacks are not sticking together
Did you forget we have churches
Get together and pray our system is broken
I'm sorry that we're not cherished while we're here
For them knowing without us there would be no here
You see it was the blacks who have made
Made up most of each and everything we used today
I'm sorry that they used racism against our names
With such poverty then it's us
that they blame
Have you ever had to fight for a cause ?
Knowing the situation you're in might not come in applause
I'm sorry that the stories on the News keep getting applaud
Seeing the same old things repeated but nothing that you'd applaud
When will it
stop?
Our people are afraid, "You might get shot by a cop"
I'm sorry that you remember the titles they gave us
The names "those niggers, these niggas"
I'm sorry that my color affects you
That you're destined to distance yourself from me to you
I'm sorry t
hat only a few years ago it was colored boy and colored girl
And they didn't like for colored people to be in this world
I'm sorry that they judge you by the color of your skin
But she's white, he's black just listen
They say don't judge a book by it's cov
er
But
i'm a person, a human someone, something
The stereotype of you to me
I'm black you see
No partiality?
But there is, they criticize what they see
I'm sorry that i'm black
Because my mother told me black is beautiful
Something I believe, so why so jud
gmental?
Well i'm not sorry
I want you to know whats going on in my head
Representing the NAACP our story is not dead
The direction we can go is only by growth
Building up our family so that everyone may know
I'm sorry that Martin Luther King got shot
Beca
use of his words and non
-
violent march
No! because he was a leader and we chose to follow him
But what are we doing now we still can win
I'm sorry they picked Rosa Parks up
She decided she was tired ENOUGH is ENOUGH
So we started boycotts and stop riding t
he bus
We did this with belief and the ones that we trust
Honestly I wish I was colored blind
I'm sorry that it's so hard for you to realize
That i'm still here for two reasons it's to stay black and die
I'm sorry that i'm black
I'm sorry that I keep walki
ng and not looking back
I'm sorry that I'm black
I'm sorry that its so hard for me to look back
I'm sorry that I'm black
I'm sorry
But i'm not sorr
y
