brother
tell me what i see
because if seeing is believing
my eyes are deceiving me
brothers
who once swore to protect each other
now lost without a trace
believing their identity
over who they really be
in the vast darkness of cyberspace
sister
tell me who i be
why do i have to search
through the lazy
hazy
images of my memory
to see
the young dee
without a scowl
feeling like i am on
a permanent prowl
trapped in the underbelly
of this ubran society
brother
tell me what i see
men and women
voluntarily
leaving
the safety
of the family
bonds
broken like the rock
we once stood upon
it is like a bomb
exploding
obliterating the gospels
of matthew
mark
luke
and john
cant fight adversity
no praying together
staying together
what is the hope for black family unity
sister
tell me who i be
when a good man becomes
a great man due to mediocrity
i have never tried to dodge my flaws
or make an excuse
for the cause
of my lack of sense and sensibility
my resume
should portray
the real brother dee
not my proficientcy
in this form of poetry
brother
tell me what i see
before the black community
stood tall in the face
of racist adversity
now we are falling into the crucible
of envy and jealously
if you do well
i gotta do better
if you dont mind
then i dont matter
everybody reaching
for the ladder
yet never learned to climb
stepping on the backs of friends
they leave behind
sister
tell me who i be
brother
tell me what i see
before we become
a footnote in american history
once a proud minority
now cliques with separate
fraternities and sororities
the world will be marching on
and we will be
remembered as once upon a time
when the black shined
so brightly
the world was blinded
by our intellect
self respect
and ingrained royalty
who are we
tell me
brother and sister
what do you see
as our ultimate
destiny

All Poetry by D.Greaves/Darwin Greaves by D.Greaves-Darwin Greaves is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at dgreaves.posterous.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://dgreaves.posterous.com/pages/dgreaves-tos