John Dough

stabbed more than a dozen times

for this leaking what was the crime

left for dead soaked in crimson red

intravenously fed

a critical condition

given a reason to breathe one

last breath from a tank filled

with nothing left

hello, hello

I need to report a theft

someone threw a stone

through the window of

my broken home

this is what I know

keep it to yourself

mouth closed

if you continue to struggle

with the devil

eventually hell will have to

let you go

once released

make peace not war

reach for the moon and

jack a star from the sky

sprinkle the dust and get high

I'll tell you why

because it's much better

to be up then down

so fly up off the ground

it's better to dog paddle

then drown so swim upstream

follow the screams and

the rows of sneakers

strung across live wires

deep into the jungle

where smoke settles from

bomb fires

under the beltway

across the shoulder

in apartment E

they're making cookies

filled with baking soda

no flour straight powder

playing in the yard

dirt gets on me from kickin it

with the homies

scribbling on walls

like kids playing with

a box of crayons

spitting out seeds

just in time

my head inconspicuously

buried in a watermelon rind

the streets are not

roads less traveled

like old french braids

blood ties unravel

to some life is a hell hole

too many flowers line

the side of the road

still the story must be told