Ode to the Black Panthers

Love is war!

I have been with my spouse for over 25 years

The key to our union is a delicate balance of expectations and fears

We have been in a constant state of conflict since the day we first met

Courtship is a battle, full of wins, losses, and regret

Comprise, doing and saying things against our will

Administering a tail of potions and poisons by elixir or pill

Daily battles make up wars, decades in length 

No matter the reason, limit compromise and negotiate from a position of strength! 

Sharing a bed is a tug of war of pillows and sheets 

Silent struggles, the loser is the one who first speaks!

The best advice that I can share, regarding the cause of the most common marital strain

Is to declare war on the thermostat, I know it might sound insane!

But chances are that you and your most significant boo

Can never agree on exactly what to...

Where I am versus my desire’s dream

Fail to succeed 

Replace want with need

Success has an expensive fee 

A result of thousands of mistakes 

Joy is brief, disappointment may replace

Give and take, sacrifice, rewards, envy, hate

Impossible is everywhere and answers arrive late

Where I am versus my desire’s dream

May as well be somewhere in between 

Distant galaxies and an inch within my grasp

Decades wasted and some wrong decisions in the past

Carved in stone, but now time moves by so fast...

Lessons learned, but mistakes still take place

Seasons change, gray hair and wrinkles changed my face

‘White Bread’ enough is enough!

What math was used to build Africa’s pyramids?

1,000 years before ‘Pythagorean’s theorem,’ is

Western, math and other facts just one big old lie?

Were all Native Americas supposed to die, were all African slaves just happy to work for free, hell is water even dry?

If some of our ‘knowledge’ is fiction, and most of the ‘truth’ a deception 

Then my reality is twisted, and I disrespectfully demand an exception!

I refuse to participate in this madness any longer, the ruse is up

The global majority has the numbers, the will, and power, ‘White Bread’, enough is enough!

Hip Hop in middle age…

I’m getting old, but not quite 50

When my rage explodes 

Transform like Bill Bixby

Hulkin’ out

So big and green

That I ripped my jeans

But I doubt that most will even get that reference

From old tv shows

I suppose I was the same

When the former generation

Would claim disdain

And a lack of respect 

From all of these little whipper snappers

Living with no regret

Responsibilities, fears, or plans for the future 

Writing checks and spending cash that their asses ain't even earned yet!

No mortgages, wars, discrimination, and pain

They no longer fight the power, rather seek out to claim

Mere fortune and fame

Making videos, asking strangers to subscribe and like

Their opinions and comments, every hour of the day and night 

Black Hair

Hair that can defy gravity 

Coils that wave and crest like the sea

Plats and twists that shine automatically 

Amazed at how magical it can be!

50 Words

Inspire, caution, embarrass, retaliate 

Explain, complain, love, hate

Pray, declare, war, peace

Buy, sell, rent, lease

Discriminate, educate, learn, ignore

Glass, ceiling, window, door

Open, close, invite, dismiss 

Judge, ignore, ignorance, bliss

Walls, doors, bars, freedom

Vote, platform, speech, lead them

History, change, future, past

Present, danger, ignite, fuse, blast

Chat-GPT is writing raps?

I’m getting old

but not quite 50

When my rage explodes 

Transform like Bill Bixby

Hulkin’ out

So big and green

I rip my jeans

But I doubt 

Most even get the reference

From old tv shows

I suppose I was the same

When the former generation

Would claim disdain

And a lack of respect 

From all of 'these little whipper snappers'

Living with no regret

Responsibilities, fears, or plans for the future 

Writing checks

And spending cash that their asses haven’t earned yet

No mortgages, wars, discrimination, and pain

They no longer fight the power, rather seek to claim

Mere fortune and fame

Making videos, asking strangers to subscribe and like

Sharing their opinions and comments every day and night 

Do...

Gender Apartheid

The Taliban’s rule in Afghanistan since 2021

Is an abomination and must be undone

When America ended its war, millions of women lost their freedom 

The UN continues to demand equality, but Afghanistan won’t even heed them!

Today it is illegal for an Afghan woman’s voice to heard in public by a man

Under the rule of law, established by the Taliban

As Mullahs mandate this kind of oppression, we’re so apathetic and naive 

To think that this ideology won’t spread worldwide, and in time fester and breed

Into the consciousness of the world, like slavery, technology and fast food

Ignorance, convenience, and control can be so addictive, swift and crude

As a Black American, I speak English and believe in Christianity 

Our African ancestors probably consider our reality an insanity!

500 years ago, they didn’t fo...

Selling books in the rain, in Harlem

One of a hundred vendors in Harlem, waking in rain 

I didn’t sell anything today, but I didn’t complain 

A writer lives in a spectrum of optimistic extremes 

Believing that almost anything is possible, writing our hopes and selling our dreams!

A few yard from me, an author of a financial literacy book did not despair 

When the wind blew and dumped buckets of rain water on her hair

The children’s book writer didn’t fret

When her tent fell over and her inventory got all wet!

We left the Harlem Book Fair this summer without making a single sell!

As I pulled my cart of books past the Apollo theater, large rain drops fell

In between two famous musicians, my wheels somehow locked up!

By Michael Jackson and Ella Fitzgerald, I chucked at my luck 

Perhaps the greats were just sending me a message, not to giv...

America is a still at war today!

Casualties of war are like a wildfire

Trees aflame, spreading fast, smoke climbing higher

The war/fire ends when interest finally wanes

Or there are no longer enough people/trees to sustain the deadly flames

Over 15k deaths in Sudan, 40k in Gaza, an 500k in Russia and Ukraine

The Americans that sent the bombs, tanks, and guns there, just abstain and complain

As we debate and protest, calling each other amoral and liars

Ironic because we're still hold the matches that started all of these fires!