Behind The Shutters

Silence Had Me Pressed

Silence walked in like it knew my name
told me chill everything don’t need to be explained
as if to say don't look for no explanation

I intuited the vibe ain’t feel no need to reply
matched its energy and let the moment ride

Silence pulled up a chair sat beside me

like a friend of mine I trust to speak truth to me

Silence said some truths ain’t meant for mouths to speak

I felt it in my spirit had to intuit the cue and stayed
silent too like that’s just what real ones do

Silence stood up walked across the floor stopped pointed out a object
like it was showing me somethin I ain’t notice before

looked at me like
“you ain’t gotta say sh**”

Silence stepped in and the whole vibe shifted ain’t say a word
but somehow the message hit different respect was the only endorsement

Silence nodded like "good you get it" I intuited the energy knew better than ...

After Grace

Big momma hands stilled

The kitchen forgot its hymns

Mercy missed supper

Scars To Prove It

does healing look like progress a quiet home inside voices children who do not flinch when their name is called perhaps it does but healing is strange because sometimes it doesn’t erase pain sustained under a legal system where the laws were unwritten but somehow universally understood like a constitution that began with "because I said so" that was the gospel according to mother's mine used to say "I’m gon’ beat the black off of you" and though she did not succeed I got the scars to prove she tried to it thundered inside and rained too that threat traveled from the field to the porch from survival to discipline from history to a struggling household environment every black child knew the warnings that need no explanation like the look that look that had ancestry written all over its face the serious look that didn't mess around that looks that put a child in a child's place passed down hand to hand like cast iron skillets recipes traditional Sunday dinners and stories to...

Straight To The Point

loose strands growing side by side twisting into one tangled vine strengthen by time grows together into one loc locked up forming a strong bond every coil remembers pot liquor folklore and language older than snapping purple hull peas on the front porch strands wrapped around each other and matted together in recognition time took its own time and patience on the journey to teach each one how to stay in place
stuck together like our mamas taught us something that should've stuck with us before the shift separated the timeline and severed the blood tie
weakening the hands on the clock with no regard for the scrubbing labor that parted and greased what started out to be a crocheted craft difficult to pull apart straight don’t always mean it’s found its true form straight don’t always mean it knows where it belongs
straight don’t always mean better straight don’t always mean beauty straight don’t always mean growth
str...

Emotional Pivot

"Please"

when I say "please" am I asking or begging am I being respectful or begging for a chance to be heard what does “please” mean what does “please” get me besides practiced patience and almost things is "please" really a thing or a way to slap a pretty bow on a package of desperation a polite way to address hunger when did I learn to put please after every stomach ache growl and grumble as if wanting and needing requires permission like if I say "please" the world might finally say yes to me as if wanting is something to apologize for maybe that’s how come so many of us starve with full plates in front of us some things are not prizes some things are not payment some things were meant to meet our needs not meant to be begged for healing begins the moment we no longer have to  to say "please" can I breathe

The Spillage

broke homegrown curses writing verses backwards in cursive each sentence a surgical precise incision a poet with a purpose not just spitting for attention a descendant of a lyrical ascension vivid vision like antenas straightens the lines on the television a mind moving mountains a voice of a thousand echoes resounding paint clouds on the ceiling make it sound like it's raining inside mindset created from electrified pressure and pain too shocked to feel a thing California born and raised in Texas missing those sunny days sitting underneath palm trees allow me me to explain I don't just write lines I redefine things I am The Poet Wize the name is subject to change like multiple identities I am not the Poet the poet pretends to be me can't report the identity theft don't talk to police poetic justice deployed to avoid a insanity plea didn't come for fame strike a match make a flame light a cigar take a toke and choke I guess you can say I came for the smoke draw a circle I be t...

Earth Core

In The Wake Of Sleep

I see a broken pencil

 I have a impulse to fix it

I look at it then start to

see it differently

maybe it's meant to be as it is

 if I try to fix it'll change the structure

disturb its condition and existence

I wouldn't be any different

from the one who broke it

Pie

there was a time when you wanted your voice to be heard all you had to do is scream the noise wasn't as loud as it is now you need more than a bullhorn to speak over a crowd shots fired the world's too tired to run fatigue syndrome no matter how deep the hurt is it's too painful to cry when is the last time you seen the sky I mean where is the sky what happened to the sky do you remember the sky I heard a woman complain she can't buy pie I asked my mind why can't this woman purchase pie my mind stood still for a moment then said nevermind it's no business of mine but damn she really want that pie there was a time I would ask how much is the pie then pay for the pie I can't lie the first time in life I did not empathize I figured maybe she didn't need the pie she turned to me telepathically it's not hard to read begging eyes mine eyes said lady you're holding up the line I think she picked up on the thought I had in mind then started counting dollars in dimes to make a long wait ...