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 Aug 2020
Tanisha Jackland
We are unsung but
natural born
free formed like
Marley does dreads
all in your head
like we be the toast
of humanity
out from calamity
a designed order
from chaos
the dark
matter
that matters
the sentient beings
with celestial wings
bringing galaxies
as cosmic bound
earthlings
we define we
Being black
 Aug 2020
Graff1980
I’ve lost the road.
forgotten
that this life
is rotting,
so I should be fighting.

Never seen
this song I sing,
just kept writing
trying to set fire
to the ground
were lost soul
were found.

Lava like fury
working in a hurry,
searching
for the end
of all this hurting,
whilst seeking the speaking
of dreams
into reality.

So, I am coming home
to a place that never was
creating my space of love.
 Aug 2020
Graff1980
I am so tired.
Can I sleep?
Will they let me
rest in peace?

I could use
a little laugh,
and a couple
cat naps.

Exhaustion
is the norm,
fatigue
fits my
full form.

Like a worm
that works
its way in
till my whole
body is shrinking,
till I wither
and I fall
barely able
to stand or crawl.

Coffee
is a sweet reprieve
but its effects
are very brief.

Can I please,
just go to sleep.
 Aug 2020
Graff1980
I wonder
wordlessly,
wearied
and alone.

Sometimes
I stumble,
a bumbler
who cannot
make his way
back to a home
that was never safe.

Then on a whim
I will catch
a hint of her,
chilling my thoughts.
I will find
myself thinking
what I should not
cause she was never
a healthy obsession.

I meander over
online conversations,
equal tumblr confessions
of our shared affections,
and slip into states of
melancholia love
wondering if
she ever thinks about me,
or if I was just a blip
that doesn’t even register
in her memory.
 Aug 2020
Graff1980
They beat the candy blues
into her thoughts,
as she sought
and bought
the sugary sweet,
multicolored gum drops
which were used
to subdue
her hunger pains,
but did nothing to
nourish healthy views
of living.

They trained her
to comply
to an almighty on high
father figure,
white bearded guy.

Whilst televangelist
propagated
hateful ****
pompously
requesting those
who were suffering
in poverty
to send them
the money they needed
to maintain their greed.

They were teaching her
that the measure
you need to reach
to say you succeeded,
is a measuring stick
that tends to extend
beyond previous
measurement.

But she bought
the glittering jewels,
sought to capture
her fantasy alpha male fool,
and achieve
the American dream
in which she believed.
 Aug 2020
Graff1980
A noble nation
would not distract
from the facts
that hurt.

Fairness,
and justice
would not be words
bandied about
without
a single thought of
those who
suffer out of view
from you.

Our dark history
would not be
whitewashed
for general
complacency.
You would be
forced to face
previous tragedies.

Melanin
in a stranger’s skin
would not
make them
kin or not kin.
We would not judge them
or sit and pretend
to be color blind
when seeing color
is not the problem
we are trying to solve.

It would not absolve
the behaviors
of civil war slavers
elevating hating
to a monumental
status.

A noble nation
would see the struggles
each person is facing
and desire
to help all achieve
the “American dream”
of which they so
highly speak.
 Aug 2020
Graff1980
I stutter.
I shudder.
I rage;
When I am calmly
trying to explain,
instead of having a
debate
on race and hate.

I cry,
cause I can
hear the pain
when people
try and describe
the horrors
from which they came,
while knowing
no matter if
they are showing
true scars of abuse
the world will still view
them as an other.

It is obvious to me
when I study history.
I can clearly see
said sorry tragedy
of human suffering.

No specifics to share
cause this is just a poem
to say that I care,
and despair
of seeing
indifference
or people not believing
what others are experiencing
after four hundred plus years of proof.

When your answer to
me telling you
what’s going on,
is “but what about
the deep state,
Bill Gates,
five G,
that’s antifa,”
or “that just
fake news”

What is the use
of telling you
the truth
in verse
when you
haven’t heard
a single word
whispered,
yelled,
cried,
or transcribed
about the
horrors committed
in people’s lives.
 Aug 2020
Lorraine Colon
Bravely the sun announces night has flown,
Its blinding rays far and wide it casts;
Reluctantly the moon descends its throne .......
Nothing lasts

Contentedly you'll hear the robin sing,
Her egg-filled nest she proudly broadcasts,
Then one sad morning her fledglings take wing .......
Nothing lasts

The withered rose that once nourished the bees
Now treats them like bewildered outcasts,
Her drops of nectar no longer appease .......
Nothing lasts

Sad hearts rejoice when Love knocks at their door,
So glad to forget their shattered pasts;
Soon they're holding hands with despair once more .......
Nothing lasts

For some, life holds honey;  for others, rue,
And then suddenly the trumpet blasts,
The Angel of Death comes to claim his due .......
Nothing lasts
She stands before the bathroom mirror
Creating several different faces
Tryng to find the one that doesn’t
Make her look so tired and old.

Some of them make her look ill
A couple more look silly.
The one she finally settles on:
A wan and disappointed smile -

Accepted as least ugly of the bunch
It’s not the face she’d hoped to wear
In this the Autumn of her life.
She expected some small trace
Of former beauty to remain.

She tried to make a little sparkle
To liven up her somber eyes
And find the muscle in her cheek
That lifts her lips into a grin.

A sorry rictus of despair
Was all that effort brought her
So she gave up and threw the switch
And slipped away in darkness
ljm
I remember seeing my mother standing in front of the mirror trying different ways of smiling and holding her face.  She wasn't happy about growing older.  Hey...neither am I.
 Aug 2020
Graff1980
I remember her so dearly.
The third-grade girl
who chased me.

Cherubic face
blushing
while I ran away.
Now I wished
that I had stayed,
letting her catch me.

Similar soul,
I know
we were reading
the same books and
standing on the outside
of the same social life.
We talked a bit
and went on one date
but by the time I realized
she was something special
it was far too late.

Not all things
work out for the best,
but facebook pictures
makes me think
she is pretty happy,
so I am happy for her.
 Aug 2020
Graff1980
I am a bit of a thief,
a killer king
stealing things
that are not mine,
to write
another line.

I pilfered
the filtered
through which others see,
to expand
the breadth
of what I understand.

I leveraged
past experiences,
to supplement my view
that despite my ambitions
come off slightly skewed.

I even bargained
and borrowed
my voice
from tomorrow,
so I could pass
pleasant wisdom
down to
all who
come to
view
this poetry
I wrote.
In 2009, The american disaster film "2012" was released.
Preparing for "The End of The World" was easy.

A piece of cardboard at a Red Light.


"2012 The End Is Nigh, What's a dollar?"


We might as well have smiled, given a friendly wave,
honked our horns like we were passing the Freeport Flag Ladies.


In 2012, I was in high school with my first job.

I didn't care that In the twinkling of an eye,

we were gonna hear God's last trumpet.

On Rapture-Eve, I set out "Milk N' Cookies" for the "Left-behind"

I left next mornings outfit on the side of the road as if Angels abducted me ****-*** naked mid-stride

Turns out, the red light never turned green.

The "left-behind" kept breeding

and Hell on earth just kept recruiting

Now it's 2020,

The Freeport Flag Ladies are in Quarantine,

the signs have needles in our eyelids like mechanical spiders,

You can't even turn the news off now,

I pick it up at CVS Like a Controlled substance prescription.

They make you call in once a month to get it refilled.

Some how my amazing wife Amy and I

Not only survived the rapture,
we brought a brand new life into it.

For 10 days we were locked in a hospital

We never looked at the news.

The world melted away as we danced together

Waiting to meet our little miracle.

After Amy was whisked away for intensive surgery
and survived the most unspeakably amazing thing in the world
a nurse eventually grabbed me and asked if I wanted to meet my daughter,
I was guided to a baby table

with knobs, meters, heat lamps,

and on a tiny cushion

in a tiny plastic crib,

My daughter.


Sophia Naomi Mae Coulombe.


wide eyed

staring into my pupils

wiggling

perfect

Now we are home.

No nurses, no IV.

Somehow it feels like the end of the world and all it's chaos
was the best thing that has ever happened to us.

Everything happened exactly when it needed too.


We couldn't have had better timing

if God planned it.
I would love any editing advice! I know this poem is raw and precious, but please feel open to being savage with the red pen!
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