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 Aug 2020
Graff1980
I was raised
in the place
you set ablaze
with your venomous hate,

sat astute
in my Sunday suit
to salute
a god who rebukes
real wisdom,

forced to worship
a sic sorcerer,
that enforcer
for the acts of
crueler dictators,

but I’d prefer
to speak plain,
to abstain
from the mundane
which chained
my childhood
to no good
creeps and cheats.

I’d like to set sail
and prevail
against those
who would jail
innocents
in favor of
corporate interests;

To beat thieves
who seek to
take these dreams
and make fortunes
in ashes and destruction.

I know some promises
can’t be kept,
and I can’t expect
to make the world better,
but I’d like to be
a man who tried.
 Aug 2020
Graff1980
To be loved is great,
but to be love
is to elevate
others
before yourself.

It is to write
a world of compassion,
to press kind imprints
of humane intents
on the hearts of
women and men
whom you meet.

It is what I long to be
not a president or a king
but a leader of empathy,

an avatar of love
and peace.
 Aug 2020
Graff1980
I am not a really fit
dude who can take
a super anime hit.

Even though, I
have a great gift
that lets me
write a bit
I don’t expect
my words will
change ****.

I am smarter than
most humans,
but this brain I have
won’t solve the world’s
problems,
won’t beat
the greedy goblins
that I meet.

I can make people laugh
but I know that
is not uncommon.

So, my greatest aspect,
or so
I suspect
is my gentle disposition,
desire to show respect
and above all else
be kind.
 Aug 2020
Graff1980
I’ll rock this ride,
till the day I die,
driving high
into the night.

Tired as I am
I move with
no plan,
just step
one foot forward
away from the herd.

The spirit that resides
is the light that I
give to this life.

Engine full throttle
no time to coddle,
the cattle is coming,
and I keep on running.

So, I drive
moving in time
as each glow
fades fast behind
and I know
I will not find
a single second
returned to me.

I won’t miss me
when I am gone,
and I am sorry
if I was wrong
but this river
only runs
in one direction.
 Aug 2020
S-zaynab-kamoonpury
There stood an imaginary, invisible houri fairy
As a bride under a maple tree
Dressed in prism-hued layers
of chiffon in ethereal shimmers
and delicate silken gossamers
She having her weeny wedding in the fall
And fairy folk bustled about all round her
as flimsy and flighty as they could be
while saffron leaves fell down upon her
in ceremonial nuptial
An autumn's ritual
and as nature's pretty confetti!

Branches denuded
Yet autumn's august
for the wilting's
ravishing!
The willowy fairy
almost drowned
in henna fallen maple leaves
Playing hide 'n'seek with a browny brownie groom
camouflaged in the heap
© Copyright
This is about Autumn with a blend of eastern and western terms to describe the autumnal season and colours and to embody the commonly heard phrase, " she was married in the Fall"
 Aug 2020
Graff1980
When it’s finally over
and you sign the disclosure
to satisfy this sick
back room deal closer,

when you bend down
to submit to the controller
that hellfire holder
who was bolder
than the wiser
and the older,

I will kiss
the sharp bits
that ripped
at your lips
and bleed
the same
pain as you.

I will scrape
the nape
of my neck
till my spinal cord
is open to explore
and you can see
all the electricity
that makes me, me.

I will stand and confess
that you were
the worse and the best
parts of my humanity.
 Aug 2020
Graff1980
After the plowshares
have been turned
into swords,
and we have been
conquered by
make believe lords,

I will bend a knee,
take a boot to my neck
let you see me
be put in check,

just to prove that we
are brethren,
and we can stand
together again.

I will write
a sharp and
contrasting light
to provide
hope in this
damning night.

Sending sweet
splinters of my
being
for anyone to see,
I will sing
“I love thee”
and be grateful
for this chance
to live.
 Aug 2020
Graff1980
You can paint infinity
on a set of plates
that lay here before me,

share a season’s story
leaving out what is gory.

You can dance in skewed
perspectives,
make rainbows cry
while a little child
staves off this painted rain.

You can make manifest
the spirit over which
you give dominion
to all who live in
this little world.

Let lovers walk
from pools reflecting
many shades
that illuminate
the end of days.

Can take the infinitude
of every instance
that made you, you
and summarize it
in multiple tints
of blue;

Take the beauty
and wonder of
a stranger’s face
lit by inspiration
as she reads
by a windowpane,

while I can take apart
and break the art
you made with your heart,
to write this silly little poem.
 Aug 2020
Graff1980
Lonely, I watch
strangers from the dock
stand up in time to fall off
and get lost in the brine.

I watch others
going under
as their vessels
start to sink,
and the floating wood
falls away
under the horizon
I was eying.

I see the seas,
and these
foolish dudes who
get lit and want to
plunder you,
in their sick slick siege
of these shipwrecked cities.

Thick lips
that drip with
ill-intent
from their fist,
swearing
they aren’t wearing
the flags of the elite.

Eyes of defeat,
I can almost hear you think,
“Wouldn’t it be
super sweet
to surrender?”

My fellow
dock dwellers
fall in line
whilst I sneak off
the dock to find
a safer seaport.
 Aug 2020
Graff1980
I am sorry,
but do not
bother comforting me.

I am crying right now
but you will not read
this poem for many weeks
after this sadness
has passed.

These are not tears
of self-pity.
The water works
are because it hurts
to see others get hurt.

This isn’t a woe is me
small set of verses
for people to see.
This is saltwater anguish
as I watch others suffering.
This is outrage
at the outright inhuman displays
that these authoritarians play
as they spray mace
in a little child’s face
while her mother is
looking the other way.

This is a tongue held so often
that my own words
can no longer soften
this brutal reality.

This is my shame,
cause I claim
to be a good person
but I am not out on the street
with other protesters
cutting my teeth
letting cops bludgeoning me
with their nightsticks.
My mid has drifted, I'm sad to say
You cannot say I'm lying
It's bigger still than yesterday
And that is why I'm crying.
                                ljm
That one was just too easy, BLT  ha ha ha
 Aug 2020
Graff1980
There is no justice today,
when allies say wait.

When they need to get paid
to keep their people saved.
So, the truth coming out
might be a little delayed,
but please just wait.

When fear of violence
keeps white allies silenced,
but they forget
fears where this ****
starts.

When I sit back and write
with a hollow sense of pride
but I’m not a ride or die ally.

I am the good man
who says he understands
social justice demands
in facebook posts,
and when I’ve paid
lip service to those
hurting,
I go back to my
comfortable life.

This time the excuse
that I honestly use
is fear of covid 19,
but the last time
I could’ve helped,
I was writing out my guilt
to help myself.

I haven’t stepped foot in the fray
since 2011
when I was advocating
for the rights of lesbians,
transgenders, and gays.

So, this is my shame,
such a stupid hypocrite
cause better men then me
are on the streets getting hit,
marginalized,
terrorized ,
brutalized,
while I get to wake up
and live a pretty tame life.
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