By: Cedric McClester

So Black Lives Matter
Is more than idle chatter
As we learned in Chicago
Just the other day
Where an unarmed black youth
Was callously blown away
And if we didn’t have a tape
It couldn’t be placed on display

A seventeen year old
In the street lifeless and cold
Who was shot in the back
By a cop as he ran away
Now that’s just a sad fact
No matter what they have to say
And If the event wasn’t taped
The cop would be okay

Demonstrating in the street
Although some may object
Followed by a well placed tweet
Gets the movement it’s respect
And we’ve seen other instances
Where this has applied
Because a camera witnesses
What an officer denied

And when we look to Cleveland
Where young Tamir Rice
Was shot down like a dog
Which wasn’t very nice
In a mere matter of seconds
He was lying in the ice
And the cop that shot him
Didn’t think about it twice






























Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2016.  All rights reserved.

By: Cedric McClester

Locked down nineteen hours
Five hours he plays
That’s the way the prisoner
Whiles away his days
On death row for the murders
Of his wife and son
Locked in a four foot nine cell
For the crime he’s done

Four years down and counting
See I’ve done the math
It’s death by lethal injection
For that sick sociopath

Decomposing and headless
In San Francisco Bay
He said she was missing
But she was found that way
His son’s lifeless fetus
Had previously washed ashore
Which repulsed everyone
Even that much more

Four years down and counting
See I’ve done the math
It’s death by lethal injection
For that sick sociopath

Her family were all hoping
She’d be found alive
Though he knew she was dead
He feigned concern (what jive)
She was weighted down
Which made him quite convinced
That she’d never be found
Floating in that rinse

Four years down and counting
See I’ve done the math
It’s death by lethal injection
For that sick sociopath

While they were contemplating
Their poor loved one’s fate
His only concern was
Which chick he should date
See he had to satisfy
An internal itch
But karma is a mother for ya
It can be a *****

Four years down and counting
See I’ve done the math
It’s death by lethal injection
For that sick sociopath

Four years down and counting
See I’ve done the math
It’s death by lethal injection
For that sick sociopath

Four years down and counting
See I’ve done the math
It’s death by lethal injection
For that sick sociopath



Cedric McClester, Copyright (c) 2016.  All rights reserved.

By: Cedric McClester

He was king of disco back then
When they thought it would never end
But I’m afraid it did my friend
And this was the message that got sent
Something like a distant cousin
Disco ***** all of a sudden
When dance music had ‘em buzzin
Hip or cool it just wasn’t

Disco *****
Was what they said
It got classified
Among the dead
Ashes to ashes
Dust to dust
That’s what happens
When things go bust

What it spelled was
Gloom and doom
He was no longer
The hippest person in the room
Chic stopped being au curant
He couldn’t get seated in a restaurant
Like he used to at l’enfant
He was no longer everyone’s confidant

Disco *****
Was what they said
It got classified
Among the dead
Ashes to ashes
Dust to dust
That’s what happens
When things go bust

Yesterday it was all the rage
When suddenly they turned
Another page
Call it dance music
Or new age
The monkey just broke
Out of his cage

Disco *****
Was what they said
It got classified
Among the dead
Ashes to ashes
Dust to dust
That’s what happens
When things go bust

He was king of disco back then
When they thought it would never end
But I’m afraid it did my friend
And this was the message that got sent
Something like a distant cousin
Disco ***** all of a sudden
When dance music had ‘em buzzin
Hip or cool it just wasn’t







011316cm

By: Cedric McClester

It’s a game of semantics
About Islam and phobia
And despite your antics
I’ve decided on disrobing ya
Islam ain’t the enemy
That you make it out to be
Why use so much energy
Trying to make me agree

Islamic terrorism
Is a contradictory term
Islam stands for peace
As over a billion Muslims
Confirm
Don’t  judge ‘em by the deviants
Who’ve strayed far from the path
What about the vast majority do the math

Why do you insist I say it
Like there’s power in the words
When I will never okay it
Because of what it undergirds
Islam ain’t the enemy
But if you try hard enough
You could really make it be
Everything that you prescribe
Like a self-fulfilling prophecy

Why the need to demonize
People you don’t understand
I think that you’d be well-advised
To deviate from your plan
You’re sowing seeds of discord
Every chance you get
And people who should know better
Are caught up in your net


































Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2016.  All rights reserved.

By: Cedric McClester

We could see it
In his eyes
What we all feared
We realized
Was getting nearer
Every day
Pretty soon
He’d go away

He let his art
Be his voice
What he shared
Was quite by choice
Beyond his veil
Of mystery
He wrote it down
For us to see

Ever changing
As he went
His creative energy
Was well spent
Because he chose
Not to relent
When he shared
A sentiment

Ziggy Stardust
And Major Tom
Were alter egos
Endowed with charm
Cathartic renderings
Made to disarm
An errant critic’s
False alarm

























Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2016.  All rights reserved.

How long must we travel
Down this troubled road
Singling out people
That we should forebode
Because they’re dangerous
Or so that’s what we’re told
Cuz they have different beliefs
That the rest of us don’t hold

I’ve always been told
That we’re a melting ***
But if I might be so bold
The truth is that we’re not
And we’re not all equal
The way that we’ve been taught
When everybody doesn’t
Get an equal shot

There are those promoting
Separation and hate
And it’s well worth noting
The masses who relate
So few move the pieces
To bring about checkmate
So acrimony increases
And the hour's getting late

Those who have the need
To feel superior
By watching others bleed
In fact feel inferior
Although they might succeed
In ripping at our interior
Because they do indeed
Create such mass hysteria
































Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2016.  All rights reserved.

By: Cedric McClester

How can we address
Things we don’t express
And think nevertheless
They will be redressed
Why should we assume
In a smokeless back room
Talk will then resume
As to how to close the wound

****** has returned
Because we haven’t learned
But now look who’s concerned
Now that the table’s turned
It’s creating quite a scare
Because it’s everywhere
In the suburbs they’re in prayer
Over who the Lord should spare

Go to college
Then go broke
And that’s not just a joke
There’s no mirrors or no smoke
It’s a sad reality
And I’m sure you would agree
Much to the banker’s glee
It’s affected you and me

Now there is no middle class
It’s regulated to our past
See it vanished much too fast
It’s either rich or poor by contrast
When conservative do what they does
Nothing stays the way it was
And perhaps that’s just becuz
They’ve put the past on pause

































Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2016.  All rights reserved.

By: Cedric McClester

None of us knows
How much time is left
Before someone announces
Our own death
So spend each second
Like it was your last breath
And I just had to
Get that off my chest

I’m no merchant
Of impending doom
But we’ll all die one day
I must assume
Based on the evidence
We can presume
That doesn’t leave us
Too much room

So live each day
As if it was your last
Cuz time goes by
And people die so fast
It’s not that difficult
For us to forecast
Each of us
Fall into that typecast

You can’t take it with you
That’s a fact
No matter how you see
Some folks act
And this concept isn’t really
That abstract
When you examine it
For it’s impact














Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2016. All rights reserved.

By: Cedric McClester

They aspire
For an office much higher
Than the one that they hold
As it gets to the wire
One might inquire
Who’ll be left out in the cold
Or if I may be so bold
Whose tent is gonna fold

They’ve set their sights
On loftier heights
Above their present positions
But if nobody bites
We’ll perform the last rites
On their individual ambitions
And not to be contrite
This is said despite their individual positions

Would you agree, mi amigo?
It’s a matter of ego
That drives their aspirations
For some it’s libido
As they thread the needle
And constantly test our patience
Just adding to our frustrations
Never reaching our expectations

It’s an interesting field
Of near-do-wells and well-heeled
Hoping to be the last person standing
As time has revealed
Their fate may be sealed
Despite all the time they spent branding
They can go to hell
If their brand doesn’t sell
And bid the race a farewell



































Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2016.  All rights reserved.

By: Cedric McClester

I heard the news
And it was numbing
Cuz so few of us
Saw it coming
The icon had
A sad homecoming
To a funeral dirge
And muffled drumming

Bowie dead at 69
Yet again reinvented
Read the headline
Now he belongs
To the annals of time
The rarest of treasures
You will find
It’s so sad that he’s crossed the line

I can’t imagine
Where to start
Was he an artist,
Or was he art?
A master of
The record chart
From Paris France
To Germany’s Stuttgart

And now the world
Must say farewell
To the clanging of
A cathedral’s bell
But he left music
To compel
Those of us
Who wished him well























Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2016.  All rights reserved.

By: Cedric McClester

We’ve become a multi-cultured nation
Which has caused nativists to lose their patience
When it comes to things like immigration
They won’t even entertain arbitration
See all they want is their country back
As if indigenous people weren’t a true fact
It’s not as simple as white or black
Or the sound of their guns going clack clack clack

In the face of their never ending nagging fear
Their end-game has become crystal clear
But there’s no returning to that yesteryear
By polluting the planet and its atmosphere
Their ideas are clearly abstract
They’re constantly trying to make time go back
Even when they have the deck stacked
Cuz time moves forward, it doesn’t retract

Politicians are busy seeking NRA funds
While bullets take down their daughters and sons
They’ll do anything at all to keep their guns
And shear ignorance comes from the tip of their tongues
How many of ‘em have to violently die
Before they can figure out the reason why
They insist on telling themselves a lie
The Second Amendment is a mere alibi

America’s no longer is an all white conclave
Of disappearing Indians and subservient slaves
Full of wealthy rulers and low-heeled knaves
Who are indoctrinated into believing only Jesus saves
America isn’t what it once was
And it doesn’t do what it says that it does
It sells a dream that once was the buzz
Wrapped up in cobwebs and now full of fuzz





































Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2016.  All rights reserved.

By; Cedric McClester

The Governor apologized
But the people of Flint realized
He had pulled the wool over their eyes
With contaminated water supplies
It happened when he switched the source
From Lake Huron to the Flint River, of course
It was to save money but he now has remorse
And his voice is starting to get hoarse

And if the people needed further proof
To realize that somebody goofed
Now the lead levels have gone through the roof
And this is the naked truth
See it’s gone from bad to worst
And the damage can’t be reversed
So the people are feeling cursed
They need bottled water to quench their thirst

They’re drawing Lake Huron water once more
And that’s a good restart for sure
Although it isn’t a magical cure
Cuz the water will remain unpure
Until the water is filtered and the pipes are clean
The lead will be there albeit unseen
Negatively affecting the brains and the spleen
The people will still be betwixed and between

It was the Governor’s people they say
That made it all happen that way
And to date no one’s had to pay
For the damages or for the delay
In rectifying the situation
The people have had to be patient
Listening to their public relations
But who’s answering the allegations?
















Cedric McClester, Copyright 2016.  All rights reserved.

By: Cedric McClester

Before they can
Pass the baton
Where they’re holed up
In Oregon
Don’t give ‘em time
To sigh or morn
The law must win
This marathon

If their militia
Refuses to be flagged
Once identified
And toe tagged
Take ‘em out
In a black body bag
Wrapped inside
A confederate flag

Why allow ‘em
To break in armed?
Threatening folks
Will sure be harmed
If they reject them
Or aren’t charmed
Because the government claims
The land that’s farmed

Are takeovers
The new pandemic
Or do I sound schizophrenic
They are clearly becoming
Endemic
And more to the point
Pathogenic
Now they’ve even become systemic




Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2016.  All rights reserved.

By: Cedric McClester

As the Protagonist expects
*** as a pretext
Baffles intellects
In an election context
So it’s no mystery
That he does this ya see
When ancient history
Can be so blistery

Given the nomenclature
Of its prurient nature
Clearly I would hate to
Be forced to debate you
But the Protagonist
Has long been doing this
Although he gets me ******
He doesn’t feel remiss

As long as he’s untoward
He won’t fall on his sword
And you can rest assured
That the past won’t be ignored
In any given broadcast
He can be put on blast
Because if one chose to ask
They'd learn about his past

Right down to his hair follicle
The man is diabolical  
And also quite methodical
What I’m saying is he’s horrible
Like excrement stuck on a shoe
He’s nasty and it’s also true
Like a bowl of witches brew
He’s impossible to misconstrue















Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2016.  All rights reserved.

By: Cedric McClester

It took more than a day
But Rome finally fell
So don’t think that we
Couldn’t as well
See we seem to be
Headed for hell
In a proverbial hand basket
Why can’t you tell?

What makes us special
Haven’t you asked
Is it just cuz we say so
We’ve been unmasked
So the self-satisfaction
In which we usually bask
Isn’t worthy of us
Even raising a glass

We are at a precipice
Isn’t it clear
If we continue like this
The future we hope for
We’ll probably miss
Let’s do what we can
And try to resist
Innate inertia and being remiss

They talk about
Making us great again
They’d like to take us
Back where we’ve been
But time moves forward
So let’s not pretend
We can ever return
And then seek to ascend

























Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2015.  All rights reserved.

By: Cedric McClester

Three years since Sandy Hook
Yet a mother still cries
Because memories live on
And the pain never dies
But little has changed
You begin to realize
Seems we haven’t learned
What we should despise

Twenty children and six adults
Murdered that day
Amid the screams and shouts
But it wasn’t the guns
So the NRA flouts
In the aftermath of chaos
They’re casting doubts
In between the tears and crying bouts

Nine hundred and ninety-four
School shootings since then
So we must ask ourselves
Will it ever end
Or what will it take
To make it suspend
Having more guns
Isn’t the answer my friend

The pursuit of life and liberty
Is an unalienable right
While that well may be
It’s probably a right
That we won’t get to see
As long as we allow
Bullets to fly free
We lose our lives and our liberty




















Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2015.  All rights reserved.

Cedric McClester

You have to wonder
What does it take
For them not to repeat
Someone else’s mistake
When there’s no one to tell ‘em
To apply the brake
They proceed full speed
Then crash in the lake

Unfortunately
You can never be sure
Whether you’re talking to shadows
Or them anymore
‘Cos they tend to repeat
Lessons from before
While riding the wave
There’s a lot they ignore

You’re talking to shadows
There’s no substance there
And you have to wonder
Why do you care
But you have something
A message to share
Go ahead and enjoy it
But also be ware

Unfortunately
You can never be sure
Whether you’re talking to shadows
Or them anymore
‘Cos they tend to repeat
Lessons from before
While riding the wave
There’s a lot they ignore

You’re talking to shadows
Who don’t have a clue
Of the road ahead
Though you wish they knew
What to avoid
Or what to review
So they don’t wind up
The same as you

I’m talking in earnest
Is your future bright
If you haven’t learned
To read on sight
Handwriting on the wall
As you’re taking flight
So as not to walk gently
Into that good night

Unfortunately
You can never be sure
Whether you’re talking to shadows
Or them anymore
‘Cos they tend to repeat
Lessons from before
While riding the wave
There’s a lot they ignore

You’re talking to shadows
There’s no substance there
And you have to wonder
Why do you care
But you have something
A message to share
Go ahead and enjoy it
But also be aware










Cedric McClester, Copyright (c) 2015.  All rights reserved.

Cedric McClester

Though it may not appear
That you are what they fear
And it may not seem
Like it’s low self-esteem
Look a little closer
And you’ll often find
That’s what’s behind
A hate-filled mind

They try to act superior
While feelin’ quite inferior
Ya don’t havta state it if it’s a fact
They’re only projecting what they feel they lack
Look a little closer
And you’ll often find
That’s what’s behind
A hate-filled mind

They’re just frightened people
That’s all that they are
Yet that doesn’t stop ‘em
From baring the scar
Of their hate-filled actions
Fueled by their bigotry
Although frightened people
Is what they may be

Hateful actions and the rhetoric
Of a minor few who are clearly sick
Permeates the atmosphere
You can find it everywhere
But look a little closer
And you’ll often find
That’s what’s behind
A hate-filled mind

Cedric McClester

It’s just a cogent observation
We never was a civilized nation
So what’s the point in now losing patience
With the fact that we’ve been complacent
About gun violence as you might have guessed
Has us returning to the wild wild West
‘Cos the bullets fly with remarkable success
And so few of us rise up to even contest

We never was a civilized nation
Let the so-called Indians make that citation
Based on their years of deprivation
With seemingly little or no cessation
Ask the victims of the atom bomb
Whose shockwaves could be felt form Japan to Guam
Had them on their knees reciting the 23rd Psalms
When the mushroom cloud settled there was an irie like calm

We never was civilized
And that’s a sad fact
Today we can Google every single act
Of past atrocities from way way back
No sense in exceptionalists becoming outraged
When the examples are there page after page
Under a glaring spotlight they’re center stage
Ask the African slaves who were shackled and caged

We never were civilized
So the chickens came home to roost
And they didn’t even have to be induced
Once the hounds of hell had been cut loose
Now they’re asking, “What we gonna do?”
See this didn’t just happen out of the blue
And it’s clear to us there has to be a missing *****
When the Gog and Magog start getting through


Cedric McClester, Copyright (c) 2015.  All rights reserved.

By: Cedric McClester

It may not seem that way
Out there on your own
But I’m here to say
That you’re not alone
Others have gone through
The pain that you’ve known
See it’s not just you
Who sometimes will moan

But don’t get discouraged
As you might be prone
Gather up your courage
And get a backbone
Don’t let some problems
Have you confused and thrown
Solutions can solve ‘em
As time's clearly shown

Don’t get so depressed
You ask what’s the use
Because nevertheless
That’s a poor excuse
I have to confess
Yes I’ve felt the noose
But I have been blessed
To have cut it loose

You see in the morning
The sun will rise again
With every new dawning
The dark nights will end
Hope is ever spawning
Like a new found friend
You woke up this morning
So say an amen

























Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2015.  All rights reserved.

By: Cedric McClester

Hold on a moment
Let’s take a look
At all that’s happened
Since Sandy Hook
There’s been enough carnage
To write a book
But not enough
For us to get shook

The gun-maker
Big four
Have raked in dollars
Like there was a war
Six hundred plus million
Is hard to ignore
And their balance sheets
Have gone up for sure

Their sales go up
After every tragedy
They have no conscience
And that’s plain to see
But why we tolerate them
Is the real mystery
Because we don’t have to
And that should be key

When will they be
Held accountable
For all the triggers
That those murderers pull
Over whose eyes
Have they pulled the wool
And when will we all
Have a stomach full















Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2015. All rights reserved.

By: Cedric McClester

He began
The conversation
That’s reverberated
Throughout the nation
You see his mouth
Is never vacant
Maybe we’ll
Have to be patient

Hear him
As he rants and shouts
Let’s keep
Mexicans and Muslims out
Because he hasn’t
Any doubt
They’re what terror’s
All about

But what he seems
To have blown
We have terror
That’s homegrown
Which is something
He should have known
As our history
Has clearly shown

But blame it
On the other guy
Then invent a reason why
Logic has to
Up and die
While he invents
Another lie
To give himself
An alibi










Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2015. All rights reserved

By: Cedric McClester

Despite the discord that’s been fanned
The Lone Ranger and Superman
Have disappeared like contraband
They’re trying hard to understand
How things got this far-gone
And how minorities got this strong
They’re wondering where they went wrong
Which is an old familiar song

Judging by the way they act
They want to take the country back
To an era of white versus black
And that's a sad but salient fact
But those gone-by days are long gone
And generally speaking we’ve move on
It has become a brand new dawn
Leaving the dinosaurs to morn

It took them a while to realize
The changes right before their eyes
And now they just romanticize
About keeping down those they despise
Although that horse has left the barn
All they can say is **** **** ****
Their hegemony an ancient yarn
And perhaps that’s why they’re so forlorn

They’ve long been living in a land
Where they were the ones with the upper hand
But like so many grains of sand
Others have begun to expand
So my question is can’t we all just get along
Am I day dreaming could I be wrong
United we stand - together we're strong
But I thought you knew that all along





Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2015.  All rights reserved.

By: Cedric McClester

You blazed the trail
And smoothed the path
For those who followed
In your aftermath
So I thought I’d just ask
How arduous was that a task
As I hail you and raise my glass
It’s in your memory that I do bask
Your chapter’s closed finally at last

Thank God that you
Picked up your pen
And wrote down words
Especially when
It wasn’t easy at all way back then
So I admire you in ways I can't  express  friend
And I aspire to be like you  
Is the message I send

Much like you
I came from the town
Where Paul Revere
Rode up and down
Warning tjat the British were around
So your accent had a certain sound
That only in Bostonians can be found
Which might be the reason you were  clowned

That notwithstanding
You indeed persevered
And tolerated those who talked and stared
Until all obstacles had been cleared
You were smarter than you appeared
And always was what they most feared
A thinking black man who wasn’t scared
One with an intellect uniquely prepared
















Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2015.  All rights reserved

By: Cedric McClester

He talks about vetting
Muslims on the stump
But my question is
Who vets that chump
He’ll say anything
Just to get a bump
I know a tall bridge
From which he can jump

He wants to make
This country great again
For people like him
The whitest of  men
While he doesn’t say it
The message he sends
Is racist in nature
And he makes no amends

Who elected him
Or said he could be
The grand arbiter
Of people like me
Hasn’t he heard
That I was born free
He’s that obnoxious
And too blind to see

If you were to ask him
He’ll tell you he’s rich
And while that may be
Fortunes can switch
He might have a stroke
Wouldn’t that be a *****
And find he’s reduced to
A grimace or twitch























Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2015. All rights reserved.

































Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2015. All rights reserved.

By: Cedric McClester

If not for his position
It could make you laugh
Because he seem prone
To the frequent gaff
And let’s not forget
He’s been too cute by half
And by now it should be clear
He hasn’t done the math

His errant comments
Just served to reveal
That he doesn’t believe
In a level playing field
And his colleague Thomas
Will probably yield
To his warped opinion
As his past has revealed

Not one of their mouths
Has been any freer
Than Supreme Court Justice
Antonin Scalia
Don’t he make you wanna
Scream Mama mia
When he says Affirmative Action
Is no panacea

I can’t say for certain
What is your take
But I know for a fact
It’s afforded a break
To those who otherwise
Wouldn’t receive a fair shake
And he knows it too
For heaven’s sake







Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2015.  All rights reserved.

By: Cedric McClester

American people gather near
Cuz every rabble-rouser isn’t sincere
You can be motivated by fear
Or you can cling to the things you hold dear
Bold words alone won’t bring about change
I’ve said it before, “******* baffles brains.”
And just like then the fact still remains
Despite certain people rattling our chains

You can be taken in by the hype
Cuz legitimately you may have a gripe
But don’t act as if you’re on the glass pipe
Pretend that you're made of a broader stripe
You can be tricked into not caring
Who you’re offending, but don’t call that daring
Say what you will about what I’m sharing
But into whose mirror have you been staring

Do onto others, as you’d have them do
The 20th Century should provide a clue
Today it’s them, tomorrow it’s you
Everything old tends to come back through
Even though certain people are hard to ignore
Hatred and xenophobia we’ve seen before
Do we really want to reopen that door
To advance an agenda we need to ignore

It’s high time that you and I realize
We’re not the only ones to be terrorized
By people that most Muslims despise
Miscreants who wear Islam as their disguise
We have to adjust and stiffen our backs
Now that we too are confronted by the facts
That we might be subjected to terror attacks
Let’s all remember how an American acts


















Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2015.  All rights reserved.

By: Cedric McClester

I don’t know if you heard
But the thought has occurred
Not to waste another word
On someone who’s absurd
A person who’s so divisive
He’s become a boon for ISIS
He’s never been the nicest
That’s just the way it slices

I don’t know if you knew
But I think I'm completely through
With his bizarre antics too
And his racist xenophobic view
He’s a megalomaniac
That’s not just hyperbole
It’s a  fact
He’s completely lacking tact

I don’t know how you feel
But I cannot conceal
My anger, see it’s real
And I can’t stand his spiel
I know he’s been to college
Still he’s a racist unacknowledged
So those who pay him homage
Will contribute to the carnage

I don’t know if I’ve said
Anything you haven’t read
About the anger that he’s fed
Time to put his *** to bed
He’s offensive and corrupt
But his fifteen minutes of fame are up
And to be somewhat abrupt
Yup yup yup yup yup



































Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2015.  All rights reserved.

By: Cedric McClester


He can stomp and shout
And even talk about
Let’s keep the Muslims out
And he’d do it, there’s no doubt
But he cannot pretend
There are no enemies within
More than now and then
People of another skin

On any given day
He may wake up and say
Let’s put ‘em all away
Or water board ‘em, okay?
He says what the heck
Because he doesn’t have respect
For the politically correct
I sincerely do detect

He talks off the cuff
Often with language that is rough
They seem to love his guff
Because they think he’s talking tough
We knew he wasn’t the nicest
But now he’s also helping ISIS
And so my sage advice is
Let’s stop him from rolling the dices

Despite how we might feel
We mustn’t allow ourselves to heel
To that fear monger’s appeal
Or give credence to his spiel
Because it cannot be denied
Judging by the way he’s lied
That he’s living to divide
And we know that’s no bromide





Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2015.  All rights reserved.

By: Cedric McClester

In the face of terrorism here
The President was perfectly clear
The idea he wanted to share
Is freedom should be stronger than fear
Yet we will remain vigilant
Was the larger message he sent
Because we will not relent
Against enemies who are hell-bent

He indicated it’s not being paranoid
To say they would like us destroyed
But we’ve done our best to avoid
Every tactic that they’ve employed
Yet all of us must do our part
Take Congress, for instance, to start
And once more he had to insist
No guns for the folks on the no-fly list

Though terrorism is a growing disease
He did his best to put us at ease
But he didn’t resort to ******
Though the public is real hard to please
Tough talk for mere attribution
Does nothing towards finding a solution
We shouldn’t change our Constitution
While trying to seek restitution

The answer’s not boots on the ground
Nor him jerking us all around
He admits that the problem’s profound
But our response would probably astound
While nothing can be guaranteed
He refuses to let terror succeed
On that we should all be agreed
But let’s not change our nature or creed






























Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2015.  All rights reserved.

By: Cedric McClester

Going to the Mosque to pray
Five times a day
Doesn’t make her devout
If she’s going astray
Wearing her hijab in public
Each and every day
Does not mean that she was devout
No matter what you say

How could she have been devout
But clearly disobey
One of the most important things
That the Qu’ran has to say
The unjust killing of the innocent
Can never be okay
It’s as if she killed everyone
In the world today

How could she be saleheen
And do the things she did
With no precedence in sunnuh
That’s doing what Shaytan bid
Islam encourages mercy
And she did not show none
Which adds to the controversy
When she opened fire with her gun

Her devoutness shouldn’t be measured
By how she outwardly appeared
If her Islam had been treasured
All she had to do was adhere
To its principles and tenets
Which clearly she did not share
Nor did she offer penance
That anyone could hear























Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2015.  All rights reserved.

By: Cedric McClester

Thanks for sharing,
Finally the air is cleared.
Are you really telling me
It was all about his beard?
They killed so many people
Who weren’t the slightest bit prepared
If they were, I do believe
They might have been scared

What’s the world coming to
When someone goes for broke
Simply because of the fact
That they can’t take a joke
You mean to tell me
It has to result in gun smoke
As a consequence of somebody
Cracking a bad joke

I find it hard to believe
That it’s a motivation
For killing fourteen people
Right at their work stations
And wounding many more
What happened to patience?
Well let’s forget about that.
How about human relations

We can blame their rage on al-Islam
As many are inclined to do
Or we can blame it on pure ignorance
Then ask ourselves who knew?
We can pick a million reasons
Right out of the blue
But the fact of the matter is
We don’t even have a clue






Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2015.  All rights reserved.

By: Cedric McClester

Holidays come
And holidays go
But none are like Christmas
None of ‘em I know
Nothing can compare
With that Christmas atmosphere
Or the gifts that we share
With the ones for whom we care

Holidays come
And holidays go
But not many of ‘em
Do we pray for snow
With sleigh bells ringing
And children’s eyes aglow
Or carolers singing
Familiar songs we know

Holidays come
And holidays go
But none of ‘em have
The same ebb and flow
As Christmas does each year
Which only goes to show
How it’s anticipated
Like we already know

Holidays come
And holidays go
But Christmas is special
Underneath the mistletoe
People are laughing
And shopping to and frow
For just the right gifts
That express the love you show





















Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2015.  All rights reserved.

By: Cedric McClester

A Muslim goes to pray
At any mosque on any day
Which is not meant to convey
The things their critics have to say
I don’t know if you’re aware
Despite the way it may appear
A mosque is just a house of prayer
You’re not indoctrinated there

So wasted time is being spent
Looking at which mosque a terrorist went
That don’t give you the slightest hint
As to why he became so bent
You are more likely to find
The source that captured his warped mind
Somewhere down the dial on line
That’s how he became so blind

Nowhere in Qu’ranic teaching
Will you find what they are preaching
It’s a matter of them reaching
Their own ends while they are breeching
Everything that Islam stands for
Which put simply they ignore
Though that’s the badge they wore
While acting in ways Muslims abhor

They can bastardize the text
And baffle some folk’s intellects
By ignoring the balances and checks
That the Islamic religion projects
And it’s easy enough to fall
If there’s no foundation at all
You might answer anyone’s call
Who can reinterpret and enthrall












Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2015. All rights reserved.

By: Cedric McClester

There’s reasons to suspect them
As long as we elect them
They’ll stick it up our ******
Cuz it’s high time that we checked them
If they won’t do the people’s bidding
Which is tantamount to admitting
The lobbiests are the only ones getting
Their votes -  the smart money’s betting

So what am I talking about?
We don’t have to scream or shout
We just have to kick ‘em out
And I haven’t any doubt
That the next ones we elect
Instead of benign neglect
Will treat us with some respect
After all we write their check

Although we’re being ill served
It’s the government that we deserve
Until we build up the nerve
To make ‘em take a giantic swerve
We need to stop acting like the caboose
And tighten up their noose
Cuz we’re tired of their abuse
It’s time for us to cook their goose

Let’s shout it from every steeple
A government for and by the people
As opposed to the greedy and deceitful
Sons of ******* who ain’t worth *****
Let the sweat drip down our brow
We need a revolution here and now
To change the present situation somehow
We need to **** every sacred cow


























Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2015.  All rights reserved,

By: Cedric McClester

What lessons can we borrow
Cuz despite our tears and sorrow
It could happen again tomorrow
And words would still ring hollow
If we’re not committed to change
Or those we elect remain estranged
And do nothing that’s long-range
As a consequence of this exchange

It’s been said that insanity
Is doing the same things, don’t cha see?
While expecting the results to be
Completely different for you and me
Once the tables have been turned
If there’s nothing to be learned
As long as we stay unconcerned
Then our destiny is earned

Aren’t we tired of coming here
To the valley of despair
Offering yet another prayer
Because of this sordid affair
What’s it take to have some mustard
Haven’t we all been disgusted
And betrayed by those we’ve trusted
Because the law never gets adjusted

If it wouldn’t be considered a gaff
It would tend to make me laugh
We’ve been down this primrose path
But we haven’t done our math
Cuz like a never ending fountain
The numbers just keep on mounting
So we’re left to keep on countin
Until we finally scale this mountain


























Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2015.  All rights reserved.

By: Cedric McClester

Stop hating on the President
Who said exactly what he meant
It seems the haters won’t relent
Until he’s bowed or bent
But terror under any name
Is terror just the same
What’s the point in trying to defame
Another’s religion,  one you don’t claim

Aren’t you tired of their antics
Accusing him of mere pedantics
Listen to them they sound frantic
Because they’re engaged in pure semantics
Once you know it’s a misnomer
To make Islam terror’s sarcoma
The tactic stinks smell the aroma
It’s time we waken from our coma

Let me proceed by being lenient
Blaming Islam may be convenient
For politicians who often mean it
They don’t even attempt to clean it
But Islam is the antithesis
Of terror where there’s a dissonance
Though some might claim it’s the impetus
I disagree with that synthesis  

Terror carried out in Islam’s name
Is not Islam as might be claimed
So there’s no need for us to defame
A world religion that is getting framed
For the actions of a select few
When others have done what these miscreants do
But their religion was no clue
Because terror isn’t nothing new

















Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2015.  All rights reserved.

By: Cedric McClester

Is it a question
Or a foregone conclusion
Were they radicalized  
Or is that an illusion
I’d like to weigh in
To address the confusion
It doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes
To become disillusioned

Why ask the question
If you already know
By the caliber of weapon
How far it will go
It’s understandable
Is you’re a news show
But not law enforcement
Who it’s so below

We’ve seen the movie
It’s the same old script
Shooters start blazing
And we’re in fear’s grip
Not only that
They’re also well equipped
Then the police show up
Once they’ve been hipped

Then there’s a gun fight
Bullets everywhere
Gunsmoke starts rising
And pollutes the air
The perpertrators have an attitude
Of devil may care
And nine times out of ten
They’re going down right there
















Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2015.  All rights reserved.

By: Cedric McClester

What’s authentic
And what is not
When you’re trapped inside
The body that you got
And you say to yourself
I don’t think I’m hot
And you dream about transitioning
More frequently than not

What’s authentic
And what is not
When you’re a married man
Whose wife is hot
But she evokes your envy
Because of the body she’s got
So you begin trying on her dresses
And her other things a lot

What’s authentic
And what is not
When you grow up on TV
As a celebrity’s tot
And they say that you
Don’t smile an awful lot
Despite the many gifts
That plastic surgery brought

What’s authentic
And what is not
I’ve been thinkin’
About it a lot
Seems everybody
Gets a shot
But the fame game
Puts ‘em on the spot









Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2015.  All rights reserved.

By: Cedric McClester

Just another day
Of gun violence and fear
In the United States
So by now it should be clear
That our legislators
Must not even care
They haven’t taken action
Since they’ve been in there

Just another day
Of gun violence and fear
Permeating acrid smoke
In the atmosphere
Bodies lying motionless
After the smoke clears
And it’s happening so frequently
We’ve run out of tears

Just another day
Of gun violence and fear
But we’re not talking Middle East
It’s happening right here
Every week we seem to have
Another cross to bare
But the NRA will usually say
That we shouldn’t despair

Just another day
Of gun violence and fear
The question is how do we
Make it disappear
Before we meet our Armageddon
In a clearing near
If you have a good answer
Would you care to share?




















Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2015.  All rights reserved.

By: Cedric McClester

Class is in
Know what I mean
For **** stars
And he’s the Deen
Even he
Can be obscene
When he doesn’t
Keep it clean

He’s been known
To have his way
With **** actresses
They say
Even those
Who say nay
Are ignored
Like it’s okay

People gather
Far and near
There’s a lesson
For you to hear
And I’m being
Quite sincere
Because I want to
Make it clear

If they put up
A fight
That should have given
Him insight
Enough to know
It wasn’t right
To take advantage
Of their plight







Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2015.  All rights reserved.

By: Cedric McClester

“We’ve got to take ‘em out,
And their families too,”
Said a presidential contender.
I’ll let you guess just who
And as for water-boarding
That’s something that he’d do
There are no depths of depravity
That he would not stoop to

At times he seems delirious
But it’s hard to say
Whether he is serious
When he talks that way
His words seem to have Teflon
Cuz he’s not made to pay
The price a normal person would
But there’ll be a Judgment Day

A thousand Muslims celebrating
In New Jersey on a roof
In the aftermath of  9/11
They just joked and goofed
Is what he said quite clearly
Without offering the proof
As often is the case
When he's challenged by the truth

He’d close our Southern boder
And divide it by a fence
That the Mexicans would pay for
At their own expense
By keeping out the Syrians
He’d reduce the chance for error
As if widows and orphans
Are the main culprits of terror
























Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2015. All rights reserved.

By: Cedric McClester

Our past is our future
Care to take a peek
There’s a mass shooting
Every single week
It’s good that earth's inheritors
Will one day be the meek
Cuz when it comes to gun violence
We’re on a non-stop streak

We haven’t learn the lessons
Of gun  history
So why this keeps on happening
Is no mystery
Bringing about an end to it
Is what we’d like to see
But the political climate
Suggest they'll leave it be

Acting as if there is nothing
We can possibly do
Condemns us to a present
Like the past that we’ve lived through
That’s if we weren’t the victims
Like other folks we knew
Who succumbed to their wounds
As is so often true

How many times
Are we gonna be remiss
Before we find something
To cross off the long  list
Like background checks
Or how about we insist
That gun purchases be registered
Instead of just dismissed





















Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2015.  All rights reserved.

By: Cedric McClester

***** **** ***
Terms that we all know
Which only goes to show
The depths to which men go
To shame women although
They have mothers who
Get categorized that way too
But they act like who knew

*****, ****, ***
It has a certain flow
On and on we go
Tryin’ to bring ‘em low
But it’s not fair and yo
We need to take it slow
Before those labels stick
Let’s change our rhetoric

*****, ****, ***
People that we know
Use it frequently although
It shouldn’t be that way but yo
Guess that’s just how it go
We use it for ammo
When we refuse to grow
Change sometimes is slow

***** **** ***
Are terms that havta go
Why hold ‘em in escrow
For the sake of puttin’ on a show
Of put downs that’s below
The ladies we bestow
Those names on even though
They’ve become status quo


















Cedric McClester. Copyright © 2015. All rights reserved.

How many times
Does this scene
Have to be repeated
Before the NRA finally is defeated
This pathology is
Apparently deep-seated
Although that’s not the way
That we usually treat it

How many times
Must these shootings
Become breaking news
Or we hear the refuting of people who refuse
To give an inch on gun control
Despite those that we lose
We pay the consequences of
The choices that we choose

How many times
Are we prepared
To do the same old thing
We’ve all heard the stories
There’s a familiar ring
We’re practicing insanity
When will we feel the sting
Of what our inaction usually tends to bring

How many times
Must we hear the urgency of this message
Or be forced to rummage through
The aftermath and wreckage
Of lost and wounded lives
Whose sacrifice beckons
Us to make some changes
In these remaining seconds

Cedric McClester, Copyright (c) 2015. All rights reserved.

By: Cedric McClester

By sleight of hand
Or stealth
They’re blaming
Mental health
Not the loophole
That exists
For the terrorists
In our midst

See Congress
Once again
Has betrayed us all
My friend
And the message
That they send
Is just because
They can

So would I be
Wrong
To conclude
The gun lobby is strong
Perhaps I knew
It all along
Because it’s always
The same old song

They bow
And acquiesce
To their gun donor’s
Largesse
And if you haven’t
Guessed
We’re *******
Nevertheless







Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2015.  All rights reserved.

By: Cedric McClester

I have trouble sleeping
A million thoughts
Run through my head
And so I lie awake
Tossing and turning in my bed
Wish I could go to sleep
And get some rest instead
I have trouble sleeping

I have trouble sleeping
Though I could take a pill
And drift right off I suppose
But I don’t think I will
I might become addicted
Captured by the thrill
I have trouble sleeping
And guess I always will

I have trouble sleeping
And that’s just a fact
There’s a name for my condition
How about insomniac
If there’s a guarantee
That I’d be coming back
All I wanna do
Is slowly fade to black

I have trouble sleeping
Maybe it’s my fear of the dark
It doesn’t take that much
For my brainwaves to spark
And get my mind racing
Until I jump the shark
Cuz I have trouble sleeping
So don’t forget the quotation mark

















Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2915.  All rights reserved.

By: Cedric McClester

Let me get this straight
There are some things I hate
But at any rate
I feel the need to state
That I love America
Despite her checked past
And I want America to forever last

I love America
And I’m not ashamed
Of pointing out her shortcomings
Some I’ve even named
But I can’t think of another country
That even can compare
Or offer me the freedoms
That I enjoy right here

I love America
That’s not a euphemism
Yet that doesn’t mean
It’s beyond all criticism
When viewed under a microscope
You see a certain prism
That elucidates all of our
Schism as well as glaring isms

I love America
But I often wonder
Does she love me
Judging by
How I am treated
And the things I see
I love America
But I can’t just let her be













Cedric McClester, Copyright (c) 2015.  All rights reserved.

By: Cedric McClester

One day after the cure
When AIDS is not around anymore
Will anyone remember
How it was before
When it was so dreaded  
That we couldn’t ignore
Because we lost so many loved-ones
We started keeping score

One day after the cure
Will we repeat the recklessness we had before
We were smart enough to know
What lied in store
Because finally the disease
Has become obscure
And the suffering’s long forgotten
That we once endured

One day after the cure
Will unprotected *** have a familiar lure
Because it’s better that way
The guys will say for sure
And the girls will go for it
If they’re insecure
But they’re selling them a bill
Of warm horse manure

One day after the cure
Of anything the world has never seen before
That suddenly announces itself
By saying bonjour
Will we still be engaged
As if we’re at war
Or will it just be one more thing
We’ve learned to ignore


















Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2015.  All rights reserved.

By: Cedric McClester

The Bible says
“Thou shall not ****.”
But apparently
We’re doing it still
Judging by all
The blood we spill
And often times
Just for the thrill

While advocating
Pure insanity
Some like to claim
Their Christianity
I don’t know
Maybe it’s only me
Who’s recognizing
What’s there to see

While gun violence adds
To the nation’s blight
We’re arguing
A Second Amendment right
Though the populous
Can’t sleep at night
We can’t distinguish
Wrong from right

Some don’t like
What I preach
And I’m accused
Of overreach
But I’m entitled
To free speech
Even though you may not
Like what I teach














Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2015.  All rights reserved.