Sunday, September 23, 2007

If You Think the End is Near

If you think the end is near. You're already too late

If you think the end is near, then you have taken the bait

The fate of many worlds rests upon the cold shoulders of those too high above the rest of us

To care. We have relied on a depleting sources which one day won't be there when these sources are a gross imitation of what was once a birthright, like food or air turned into capital, put into boxes, stamped, taxed, mailed and limited by human law. So that those not worthy groan with the anxiety of knowing food and shelter exists but the difference between a meal and hunger a home and the street is greater than physical distance but distance of the human mind which is beyond the binds that tie us to each other. I used to wonder why I had to eat all my food because some skinny African child who looked like me except with a bloated belly, surrounded by flies was starving in some foreign land I've never seen. Until I realized that child was me. And then I wondered how this image has been transferred to my tv screen via some 30 thousand dollar camera, 10 thousand dollar trip for crew and producer and 2 thousand dollar audio equipment and no one could hand these children a sandwich. "Watch as little Najir drinks the contaminated water." For the sake of pure journalism, we accept his fate. If you think the end is near, you're already too late.



You have taken the bait if youve ever blamed the poor for being poor and not changing a society where even college graduates can't get a good job anymore. We've been fighting on both sides since the beginning of time. Thinking that years have made progress, blinking back tears as testaments to our dedication these truths appear to be self evident, that I don't give a f about you and neither does your next door neighbor or our president, not just this one but 43 down the line, thinking that if we had a woman or a black man in charge things would be fine, but every human can be bought at a price. Every great man has been offered his slice and I am afraid of the corruption that surrounds me, although I have been born into a race I am not of it. So when I hear songs that exploit my human sisters on the basis of capitalism I do not shake my head in shame, but in empathy. Because I cannot sympathize. These are not my people. And when on the news a young boy is shot, or raped, I shed a tear for this sad species, but I can no longer relate. Because I don't think the end is near, I think it's here and it's too late.

Saturday, September 01, 2007

Who Needs Friends

Who needs friends, I ask myself as I hide my feelings and reveal a smile.

Tuck inner emotions away, safe from display

Understanding that no one will and with that

I must make my peace

Though uneasily making plans

That I know won't pan out

Because no day is a good day

When you're walking through the valley

of the shadow of death

Who needs friends, I ask myself

When I can't find the words, or the courage to say

No

When I can't find the motivation or the energy

to go

When the bills come fast, but the money comes slow

And the last thing I need to do is shop, club, dine, drive, spend, chill, or explain myself to a

jury of my peers who need a valid argument as to

why I didn't have the means to dress for the occasion

When my life is falling apart behind closed doors

I ask myself, who needs friends when I'm

Forced into a corner because of circumstances out of my control

The only thing that sustains me and gives a great excuse is work

But when I look into the faces of the people I hold close

I ask myself, who needs friends?

When I got fired, and you got a raise

When I'm getting blame, and you get the praise

When I can barely eat, and my mind's in a daze

When it's raining outside and my only protection is a wet blanket

And a whimper comes out in the place of a holler

What's in store for my life, must be planned down to the dollar

And people wonder why I'm nowhere to be found

How can I explain it this time around?

I'll be there, I say and hang up the phone

There's nothing close to the feeling of being alone

And when I cancel again and again and again

And get up the energy to try to blend in

Conversation is light, yet I'm crying within

It's then that I ask myself

Who needs friends

...like me?