it always starts quiet
that’s the part that kills me
men in suits lyin thru perfect fuckin teeth
smilin while the country bleeds out slow
they cut us up
sell us back the pieces
wrap it in a flag
call it freedom
they say it’s a mental health crisis
when it’s genocide in pretty clothes
they say it’s bout safety
while they build more cages
for the wrong kinda love
the wrong color skin
the wrong fuckin pronouns
they point us at each other
so we don’t look up
tell the broke to blame the poor
the white to blame the brown
the straight to fear the queer
the sick to hide their scars
and we fall for it
every damn time
they call it leadership
i call it bloodlettin
slow
intentional
marketable
the preachers bless it
the cameras sanitize it
the cops enforce it
and the rest of us
we whisper bout hope
like it’s fuckin contraband
my people know this smell
this taste of smoke and iron
my blood remembers this
the slow crawl of fear
the silence that follows orders too well
we’ve seen this movie
and i’m tellin you
it doesn’t end with freedom
it ends with paperwork and ash
it ends with neighbors vanishin
it ends with your name
misspelled on a list
it ends with flowers growin
where the wrong people stood
and pretty soon
we’ll all be pushin up daisies
b/c we didn’t fit the fuckin box
they sold as salvation
and we thought
if we were quiet enough
they’d forget to notice us
they won’t
who knows…
maybe it’s already too late
maybe the match is lit
and we’re just pretendin it’s sunset
maybe we’re all too numb
too tired
too used to the smell of burnin
to realize that god isn’t comin
there is no reckonin
just smoke
and the slow understandin
that this was the plan all along
Powerful writing.
The truth is,that we are complicit in the disaster unfolding across the world.The powerful will keep us separated and distracted so they can get whatever they want.Divide and conquer…..classic.
thank you. exactly that…divide and conquer.
Powerfully penned, 253. Into the book it belongs! Dude, this is my kind of write. Spitting facts with this one and the last stanza drove the stake through the heart of their corruption. I can’t pick a favorite line they are all fucking amazing. Take a bow my friend, epic write. Appreciate you.
Damian
P.S. This is begging for music!!
appreciate it Damian
Well, Dear Poet 😳
Talk about eye-opening for the everyday Joe, awakening for the lethargic unaware … precisely, the kind of diatribe we should all hear, agree with, and ascribe to (not only Americans, but all countryfolk of every race, culture, and creed). I wish there were functional ways to predict how our politicians will end-up acting when/before we vote them into office.
Powerfully and candidly spake, indeed … wish I possessed the literary skill and wherewithal consciousness enough to invoke such palpably stunning truths!
With a vibrantly impacting voice like yours, who needs punctuation? LOL!
Your impacting verbiage brings so vividly to mind those deeply passionate war protests of the ’60s.
I hope the value of your words’ll stick with me and come to mind at the right times.
Thank you for sharing! ⁓ Richard🖌
“men in suits lyin thru perfect fuckin teeth
smilin while the country bleeds out slow
they cut us up
sell us back the pieces
wrap it in a flag
call it freedom”
((( DAMN, 253!!! )))
thank you Richard. glad we’ve came to agreement that I don’t need punctuation. lol
Well, in this particular piece, the lines were short and less complex, and enjamned in such a way you got by without proper grammar, but there are times when your readers will be less confused with proper directives included in a poem’s more complex diction.
If you should ever need a friendly hand with punctuation, I’ll always be around. : )