D.Greaves http://dgreaves.posterous.com Well Veresed. Never Rehearsed. posterous.com Thu, 13 Jan 2011 23:31:00 -0800 THE SOUL OF A BLACK MAN http://dgreaves.posterous.com/the-soul-of-a-black-man http://dgreaves.posterous.com/the-soul-of-a-black-man

I don't sweat my past
Unless U bludgeon me with yours
I don't care if the score
Is four
Or
Landing against my will
On a foreign shore

I don't sweat the hit list
I was deemed a terroroist
Before the word was defined
Nat Turner's rebellion
Killed me and mine
Multiple times

I don't seek a copyright on corruption
A patent on pain
What is the gain
If I'm running in place
All that does is help you
Focus your aim

I don't sing Negro spirituals
And celebrate Martin Luther King
'Cuz I dig hearing the disenfranchised
The wretched
The despised
Plaintive wails when they sing
I am a man
My birth from the earth
An earthling

I don't concede
So what you think is sociological greed
Is actually a refusal 2 bleed
I've been Crippin
My Blood before the Bible was written
If I'm shy it's only because for your love
I've been twice bitten

So you hear my screams
And while you sleep peacefully
I have nightmares when I dream
U represent the stripes
But I am the seam
The glue
Without me
Old Glory
Is gory
Through and through

So you hear my diatribe
And say black man is at it again
But let's not pretend
Never did I intend
2 win
I just refuse 2 be defeated
I kill mine
It's on page 46
Next 2 Garfield, Charlie Brown and Viagra signs
Black on black crime
Sign of the times
Doesn't even register while you stand
In the Mega Million Lottery Line
And you got the nerve 2 say
What's the problem
It's 2011 everything should be fine

I don't try 2 be Tiger Woods
'Cuz the woods got a lot of trees
And I'm a strange fruit still
James Bryd Jr
Against his will
My name ain't Marcus
But I do read Garvey
Simultaneously
Tryin 2 convince my
Lady
All black men don't think like
Steve Harvey

I don't admit 2 being what I'm not
Try not 2 live in a constant state of readiness
But I swear it feels sometimes
I'm surrounded by angry cops
Not tryin 2 read my writes
Nah if I say the wrong thing
The pendulum swings
And I don't walk into my house that night

I don't deny being hyper sensitive
2 light
Man I've become
Aquainted with the night
Bet you didn't know
In city after city
Black men pray for snow
Or torrential rain
Anything to ease the pain
And catch our breath
Before we walk back into 500 murders
A year
the Answer my friend
Ain't blowin
In the wind
My tears are from
Mortal fear

So we call each other
Brother
'Cuz truth be
We
All all we have
The Million Man March
Was a salve
But even on that special day
Amidst Black Brother's peace and harmony
The government
Emptied Washington, D.C.
Why?
What makes me and mine the enemy
In the midst
Just because I sing in the key of freedom
And By Any Means Necessary raise my fist

So why when Brothers get together
All past drama fades
Is it the sacrifices we've made?
Or are we tired of being sacrificed
For the right price?
Is it the kinship we feel?
Or are we fed up with our kin's
Skin
Being peeled
On fake appeals
2 a judicial system
That want me 2 be a piston
In the engine
At least Slave Drivers didn't fake the funk
They said welcome 2
Yo..WHAT IN THE HELL
IS A HOUSE OF DETENTION
I good damn good grades in skool
I paid attention
And I still do
'Cuz I don't care whether a brotha
Is 22, 32, or 42
When black and white
Fight
Black turns 2 blue
With shades of red
Damn right I'm not afraid 2 die
But who is gonna tell my daughter
Your daddy is dead
And how did I die
Murder in the 1st, 2nd 3rd degree?
Or justifiable homicide
Did I catch it in the back by Black
Or was I taken for a ride
Did I slide
Or get blown off of my feet?
At the Compton Swap Meet?
Or in Houston
Or San Antone
Or Naw'Leans
Or the Tidewater
Or the 5 buroughs
Or the Ill a Delph
Did I respect myself ?
Did I pretend?
How did I meet my end?
And more importantly
Does my demise mean
Life can begin again?
What whould you do if
You didn't have me 2 apprehend?
Would Max security Jails exist?
Yo..
I know I can be evil me and mine
But many times
I was just mindin mine
And you couldn't resist
'Cuz how dare I
Expose American lies
And stand like John Carlos
Raisin my fist
Who gave me that right?
Look in the mirror
And see the love
You taught 2 fight
Might
Don't make me right
It' s made me
Sadly
An afterthought
Dawg I ain't gonna
Run
We brothers been on the hustle a long time
Whatever you gonna do 2 us
It's fine
But just remember
WE STAND
BACK 2 BACK
BLACK 2 BLACK MAN
Always
Alpha 2 your Omega
KIn
2
Your
Klan
How then can you ever hope 2 understand
THE
SOUL
OF
A BLACK
MAN!

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