The Progress
“The progress of a good mother fucker you are a vehement hindrance to.”–Zero
Author: A. Long
Melted
My baby don’t love me no more
maybe he never did
i melted
into the floorboards waiting
for him to come home
comb through the knots
in our relationship
married to my hair
i cut it
out, cancerous strands grew
there from where he’d grab
dig his fingers deep into the roots
then pull
snatch
take
all they do is take
your breasts your likeness your body is gone in an instant
without so much as a hand hold
cuckholded lacily held yesterdays
where’s yesterday
he wont even look at me anymore
crawling past the door
towards another chest
but i need to love to want him
don’t know if it made a difference
now its just
wanting leaving the wanted with longing
Pray for me I’ve seen too much
of these buh bye boys to men
to children.
Gone But Not Forgotten
Lest we not forget
fateful days that
molded a people in the belly of a torn open beast
in the name of someone else’s peace
We Grind
we grind corporate skateboards
new monetary tats
sell your time
your soul
and the soles of your feet
to the grind
the world is a series of lines
guidelines
bylines
laws
and rules
the revolution may not be televised
but it will be organized
into lines i bet
from the bathroom
to the classroom
I’ve got mine’s in line
Do you?
Grinding until my calves are sculpted enough to cut diamonds
while winding through capitalist crowds
son servant surf boards
don’t sip the vines
snaking through our lives
and these kiddie rhymes
Adam.
The Pressures.
(Love twists
the young man. Having seen it
only once. He expected it
to be, as the orange flower
leather of the poet’s book.
He expected
less hurt, a lyric. And not
the slow effortless pain
as a new dripping sun pushes
up out of our river. )
And
having seen it, refuses
to inhale. “It was a
green mist, seemed
to lift and choke
the town.”
–Imamu Amiri Baraka
Brick Wall
hi
Brick Wall, tell me something
say something about you
anything to make the time
pass
a moment last
turn into years
turn this conversation on its ear, with
a funny joke
tell me what birds smoke
or how it feels when a knuckle is broke
Brick Wall, I think I’m all alone
down here
I was just wondering if you cared
to keep me company
to acknowledge my presence
when my friends didn’t
Brick Wall, you’re tall
really tall and far from where I stand
your tall and long and deep colored stone
won’t speak back at all
I’m almost out of tears to cry
of reasons to fight
to yell and shout
Hey, is something going on up there
is there a party or some secret stair
vagrant vigilantes spray painting graffiti
you got an undercover admirer that only visits
in the night
Wall, you’re cold to the touch
I’m just trying to figure out why you never say much
I love you
and I don’t know why
say something please
it feels like you’re ignoring me
alright,
I guess I’ll just leave.
Time Does Not Bring Relief
Operatic delivery of Time Does Not Bring Relief, a featured performance from the Lincoln Center.
clouds
we’re flying high
drunk off clouds
spiraling through
turbulence
i know you, stranger
familiar prick
don’t stain the sky red
before the sunset
let’s just cruise at this altitude
close eyes
free hair
wind whip through outstretched fingertips
sip serenity together
flocking with feathers
and all that jazz
Who
who loves me?
who knows…
who knows himself.
who loves
who would leave.
who might?
who needs to be better.
who can tell in this world,
who loves me.
who trusts…
who trusts himself?
maybe
who lives in maybes
who regrets this.
who is who is.
who can blame her?
who can.
who did.
who didn’t?
who wants more?
who always wants more than this.
who can blame him?
who wants to love harder.
who hurts?
who is hurting.
who has bled.
who sees red.
who doesn’t see me.
who, are you…
who, where are you?!
who knew i could beg
who knew
who knew himself.
who loved me.
who left.
who could blame her.
who did.
Invisible Man
I can disappear
fade the indivisible invisible nigga
bullets burn right through me
the man without a plan
I stand stark naked
screaming for you to shoot
and you do
six times
eight times
forty four
You riddled the air
I’m not there
I’m on an island
combing the sand for sea urchins to bash against the rock
I’m shoveling fufu and egusi into my face with
my family in trap
blocking the cops for the block party
I am anywhere but here
school, graduation, another mugging
disappear child disappear
be as dark as the night your ancestors crawled from
teeth shining like stars
be black as the mines
your blood brothers mined for diamonds
fade when you see the guns coming
The Poetry Corner 