I hear, over and over again,

that you are "colorblind." That, as the human race,

we are all one.

I don't know how to write this.

But when I see, over and over again,

the taking of black life,

color becomes more than a coincidence. 

Freddie (he owned a knife)

Michael (he jaywalked)

Eric (he sold cigarettes)

Sandra (she forgot her turn signal)

Did the punishment fit the crime?

Our America has never been theirs:

I have never lived

with the fear of being pulled over

and never seeing my family again.

I have never lived

with the thought that tomorrow

I could become a hashtag.

I have never lived

with the knowledge that if I should die for my color's sake

my humanity, my guiltlessness, they'll try to take.

So don't say that we are one,

that you are colorblind,

that "all lives matter."

Don't say we all bleed the same–

it is not our blood that has been spilt.

Human bodies

can't be buried

just anywhere.

We like to think

our mortal meat

is so special.

Mmm! He was such a sexy ten

He counted his fingers sensually

on my body in fours and fives.

When he used both hands,

he multiplied my lust by two.

His tongue divided my core

into jangling carnal pieces.

Thrusting himself within,

we became one.

graphed together in

X’s of desire.

“But Y,” I asked,

"must he subtract himself

leaving me

minus one,

even less than zero?"

doorways into a brokenheart

allow my eyes to see new light

the stickiness of the spokenpart

is the line between what's wrong and right

there is of course a cracklingsound

it's the flaking soul; and it's loves' excite

raised from the static that's all around

a fantasticvoyage, or terror by night

there's a thin redline between love and hate

stronger even than the sum of its plight

a tightrope of cotton that willnot abate

regardless of greyblackshades of white

doorways are nothing but peoplesized holes

with space for us all to gently requite

and to see right through to the ends of our souls

will putback the colour that's lost from mysight...

Her face is a poem,

stops men in their tracks.

But her piece of art,

is defined by its cracks.

She worries and races,

throughout her whole day.

No one stops to think,

about the price she must pay.

While others want from her,

to her family she gives.

Her freedom must die,

so their hope may yet live.

Then one day she meets him,

recognizes his power.

He begs for her trust,

and bears Bleeding Heart flowers.

Her eyes tell him the story,

of the way she must go.

He respects her decision,

about their love yet to grow.

Her heart is a puzzle,

and by her mind it's driven,

It can never be taken,

it can only be given.

We’re not living in a democratic administration

The public are being fooled by the rulers of this nation

Do you think we get a choice in the affairs of the day?

That we have any control in what they decide and say?

We're bombarded by spin doctors and fabricated ideals

They really couldn't give a shit about how poverty feels

The statistics are fixed to project that everything is grand

People unemployed? homeless? Sick? No, not on our land

Read the papers as they ooze pages of biased ink

Black and white letters that tell you what to think

Not what they know to be the truth, the proof

The rich can't sell that to you so you’re aloof

Alone in the world wondering how to beat the system

Telling people to make a change but they won’t listen

They think you’re crazy, lazy, lost or broken

Perhaps he’s on the scale because he’s so outspoken!

Frustration spreads while you tie yourself in knots

The greedy and destructive are taking all the shots

At the cures, the fixes the people now contradicted

By gagging orders and their research now redacted and restricted

By the pharmaceutical companies and their money making plans

and the companies and politicians who prosper from these scams

Ripe with corruption and mass murderous schemes

They want to own our souls and censor our dreams

With consumerism for the numb but I fear I can’t relate

When depression sets in they say spending helps abate

So you increase your debts with more possessions to your name

Another form of control that anchors you to their reign

And when we’re in the maelstrom and realise the con

They buy up all the proof and pay off all their wrongs

Time goes by and no-one seems to remember or care

So it starts again because apathy and ignorance is what the masses share

They say, “You can’t make a difference, you're just one person!”

And that’s the mentality that determines the recursion…

Revolt

© Richard Withey. All rights reserved.

If stars could talk, what would they say?

'Come and hang with us today

For we've seen more than you can know

Wandering around below'

'We were there at the very start

When the big bang blew nothing apart

It took a while for us to chill

For we had a universe to fill'

'We've seen you feel affinity

Because we're built so similarly

You've wished to be strung in our skies

Especially when you've darkened eyes'

'But we'll be around at the very end

We'll meet you there, should you transcend'

They're silent though, and with good cause

Their message wouldn't make man pause...

Peace is not a natural state

There's no such thing as Heavens' Gate

Earn it if you're willed to wait 

Be sure to read the 'sell by' date

Our nature is to gear for war

To level countries to the floor

To post a bomb through your front door 

Then wonder what we did it for 

Peace can come to some through drink

Sometimes it's better not to think 

But benders only bring the brink

Wherein the sights are black, not pink

Maybe, upon higher plains 

Are found the cures for savage brains 

A pill for peace, to bring the rains

To wash and heal our primal pains

Don't give up, peace can be found 

Ignore the angels ran to ground

A calm descends if left unbound

And peaces' call for all will sound...