back yourself up

i danced to the old songs you played 

when life seemed less lethal less complicated 

by pandemic by racism by sociopolitical

extremity

less strung out on manipulated media

in our faces in our pockets in our cell

phones keeping tabs all night and day 

long 

if we let it. i danced freely like

i had some kind of voice some kind of 

choice 

in an automated world 

ina cyber reality you really gotta

know who you are. download yourself

before you get 

tagged

archived

judged and encrypted

back yourself up

(less than) lethal

see

the uniforms the weapons the 

shields. oh why why why

do they get to be protected all the 

damn time?

murdered over a counterfeit 

bill. cup foods. corner of chicago ave

in the thirties. murdered over a 

twenty 

given history of litigation of systemic 

racism. america. there is no promise no certainty they

will have to pay for what 

they done

the people grieve

the people come together

the people cry they

shake they stay out late

past curfew pelted by rubber bullets burned

by tear gas they

are detained. arrested

for what?

for an expression

for an honest expression

the force is lethal

calls itself less than

less than lethal the force

is lethal

it can kill you make

no mistake it can and

will

may 30. 2020. america

if you had a heart you cried if

you had a heart you shouted out in protest

against the unspeakable 

horror

if you had a heart it broke and maybe 

you could not control yourself 

for a while

grieving these systemic patterns of criminal

behavior in bed with american institutions

you could not bear to remain

orderly

calm

respectable

peaceful

out on the streets

where you joined the others

and a stream became a river and a river

an ocean of

anger

sadness

hopelessness

dredging up a particle of hope

there to see you were not alone 

gone half insane in

pain

Minneapolis

they wield such power they can kill a black man in public
and did. George Floyd. while civilians expressed outrage
from the sidewalk. rioting followed and what do you expect,
America? when people are hunted and trapped, helpless.
handcuffed. unable to breathe. another life discarded. another
family torn apart. a community. a nation of communities.
fighting the power the authority the institutionalized racism.
looking for leaders who may deliver social justice. a cop
accused of murder. found guilty. convicted. sentenced to life
or death.

airwaves

the ones who want to help
cannot help us
sometimes

god bless them

when we feel
superfluous and unwanted like static 
to airwaves

only we can find

our way

constant

trustworthy
fixed between stations

even static has a righteous place

in this world

maybe we

can

god bless us

maybe we
will

what the hell

i didn't know

what the hell i 

was doing

i lacked insight

i lacked judgment

but i did what i did

and i did

what i could

and survived and

now i know

what the
hell

keep dreaming

when you finally let

the old dream go

you can get down

to really living

they say

but who?

who can live?

who can live without

dreams