My Words

Its my words

Its my words

Its my damn words

I ponder the thought of censorship and how it has stripped one's ability to completely express him/herself

Why does my words bother you

This is how I feel

And given the First Amendment don't I have the right to express myself

But I can't

Why?

Cause people keep watching me

Leave me alone

I am not a caged animal

That responds to your pokes and your camera lights

But you won't leave me alone

So I must get used to being a puppet in your stage show

I don't think people understand me

Please Don't Let Me Be Understood

Please

That shit was thrown out the window years ago

Cause with power comes scrutiny

Part of me wants to take a spoon of my alphabet soup and shove it down your throat

Just so maybe you could stop choking on your words and be fed off mine

Either way,

I'm a victim of word violence

People have slapped tape on my mouth and held me bondage

A prisoner of my own intellectual freedom

Yes

I'm a damn prisoner!

-Shackles 2011

Brother's Keeper by Justin B Poythresss

Will I be my brother’s keeper? Do I dare think deeper? Selfishness will fester within, wallowing in hateful sin. To neglect the needs of one another is to a degree just like murder. Suit and tie walks by, yet turns his eyes as a brother suffers and dies. Isn’t that homicide? High and mighty preacher approaches. Dressed to impress, headed to church. Not the time to mess his clean shirt. Too important to stoop to the dirt to help a brother who is hurt. Samaritan sees his brother lying in pain Doesn’t think twice about a stain Kneels to lift him from the mud sweating from the scorching sun. God bless the brother’s keeper. A love so pure furthers the Kingdom. The Artist creates with the stroke of a brush Earth’s in a hush as He stoops. Stoops to show us-- there is hope. Hope abounds when we are our brother’s keeper. Love one another. Love yourself. Drench the world with your overflow. As your cup runs over, those nearby get their feet wet from the living river that God grants. Now it’s on you to deliver. Who will be their brother’s keeper? Justin Blake Poythress 2/18/2011

T.I.M.E.

Little girl with long curly hair, an entire future in the palms of her hands. She turned one day and asked her mother about where she would be in the future. Her mother responded by saying that the little girl would be somewhere in the world doing great things and that the only thing that could stop her was God and T.I.M.E. The tricky thing about time is that when you feel you have the most of it, you actually have the least of it. As the little girl grew into a young lady she began to notice that time had taken the ones she loved. Time had taken her stranger-like grandfather, cousins and other relatives. Time had also taken her Beloved, at the beginning of her third path. Time had made those around her physically weak and forced to deal with a point in which they would have to realize that they would not be here. Time took her sanity. Time made her bitter. Time took her heart completely away from her body because she didn't need it to live. All the time she was happy, she was sad because time wouldn't let her thoughts be free. Her thoughts had to deliberate. Time took her friends, especially the ones she prayed for. But most importantly, time took her hopes for a better future, because she wasted time enjoying the present. The little girl, now a young lady, looks to time for nothing, because it did not wait for her and it took too much from her. So time and time again, she killed herself with a clear glass and a poisonous death.

A Sad Reflection

Sentimentally Speaking

I don't know if anyone else has ever done this before,

just sit and reflect on his/her life....particularly the areas of fault

I sit and I think of every action that I've had direct control over

and I ask myself, what could have I done differently?

Maybe instead of being such a foolish, self-centered woman, I could've had my eyes more open

Open to the promises that could have been fulfilled

Maybe instead of opening my mouth to speak, I should have remained silent

Maybe instead of walking forward, I should have taken a step backward

Maybe instead of playing in the secret garden, I should have been in the forest

Maybe instead of letting my soul become bitter, I should have expressed myself

Maybe I should have lived more in particular areas than others

Maybe I should have dove to the bottomless pits of the ocean instead of cutting my head open in the backyard pond

Maybe I should have supported you more instead of separating myself from you

Maybe I should have loved more, so I could have been loved more

Maybe I shouldn't have committed such acts then I wouldn't be here waiting for Karma to knock on my door and serve me with the same papers that I never thought I would've given to you

Maybe, just maybe, I should have just been better

But it makes no sense for me to sit on the porch and wait for life to rewind to those times,

All I have is the present and the future

And today, maybe right now, I'll be a better ______

I was thinking....what if?

In a moment of peace I began to think what if?

the sun didn't shine and we laid in darkness doing the things which we would not do in light

the eagles didn't fly high in the sky, but instead became pigeons and shitted on everybody

the artists didn't provide the world with their talent, but instead remain closed off to themselves

the writers lost words, sat in silence for fear that words may hurt

the teachers didn't teach, because their was nothing they could learn

the relationships we've built were blown away, like a hurricane in the cusp of morning

the hope for tomorrow dwindled in the disgust for the present

the life you thought you were living turned out to be a dream, and suddenly you awoke to realize that reality is actually a hell bound woven basket and you were the tool used to create it

the people never wanted change, but allowed everyone to stay the same, inadvertently causing a consistent change

the love became the hate

the peace became the war

the fear became the future

And everything that you defined was redefined by another because you weren't qualified enough to do so.

Tis' the Season to Sharpen Your Knives

(What they do)

(They smile in your face)

All the time they want to take your place

The back stabbers (back stabbers)

(They smile in your face)

All the time they want to take your place

The back stabbers (back stabbers)

All you _____who have ____

And you really care, yeah, yeah

Then it's all of you _____

Who better beware, yeah yeah

Somebody's out to get your ___

A few of your buddies they sure look shady

Blades are long, clenched tight in their fist

Aimin' straight at your back

And I don't think they'll miss

Well... well...well...Like the title reads "tis the season to sharpen your knives." Don't read this and act like you've never done it. Don't act as if you have never sharpened your knives. Ready to cut into the hearts, backs and throats of many people. It's so sad, but so true. We do it all the time. Smile in someone's face and talk about them behind their back. I always pondered the thought of five friends sitting in the room talking about the randomness of life. When one friend leaves and only four are left, do they discuss that one that left? So on and so forth until only that one friend remains, with the tea (information) about the other four. Mmhh.... I can only speak for myself, yes, I am a participant in such unladylike acts, but have I began to make a conscious decision to stop, no. However, I do think it is important to realize that KARMA does exist. Also, I find myself feeling weird about the whole gossip aspect, especially if your my "friend." I wouldn't want my circle of friends to bash me so why would I bash them behind their back. Tisk the reason why my circle changed in size. My mother always said that too many girls hanging around each other is never the best, chicks are catty (lawd knows I wanted to use another word :)) But really, think for a moment, think about how many times in your day have you sat and acknowledged someone else? Do you do it because you genuinely do not like that person or is it because of a present situation that involves that individual? Either way, STFU! Spend a little less time discussing someone else and focus on making a future for yourself! Spend a little more time trying to figure out how to save this hell-bound planet from eternal damnation. Spend a little more time making someone happy, because if you don't you will be a lonely bitter bitch, sipping wine and watching the clouds go by!

Changes....2pac style

I got love for my brother but we can never go nowhere

unless we share with each other

We gotta start makin' changes

learn to see me as a brother instead of 2 distant strangers

and that's how it's supposed to be

How can the Devil take a brother if he's close to me?

I'd love to go back to when we played as kids

but things changed, and that's the way it is

Come on come on

That's just the way it is

Things'll never be the same

That's just the way it is

aww yeah

I'm just sitting on the bed, reflecting about life. I ask myself a question everyday, is this the way it is? Will things ever be the same? So many things are happening to me and I have very few people to turn to. Isn't it amazing that when others go through things, you find yourself being the first person to run in their mental emergency room and prescribe them an antidote. But when you check into that same mental hospitality, people let you go insane. They say I've changed, I say no, they've changed. Either way, will things ever be the same? Cold hearts, cold looks are taking the place of warm words and warm hearts. We should be able to push through, fight the good fight and live to tell the tale. But we don't, we won't. We'll just replace that stain with a whole new one...

Be careful what you pray for....

I once heard a story of a man who had nothing. He knelt down everyday and asked God to give him something. Give him wisdom, give him friends, give him money, power, etc. He prayed so much for these things that God eventually gave it to him. For a while, the man lived like a god, he enjoyed the absolute best that life had to offer. It wasn't until his luck turned for the worst and series of events began to happen to him. Power told him that no one man should have to much of it, especially if they never spent time working for it. Money got funny and decided to up the cost of everything around him. And friends, what friends? Oh yea, the good life friends, decided that man was no longer good enough to be around, so they dismissed him as well. But then there is wisdom, the one that God was ecstatic about giving to this man. Wisdom made the man think, think so much that he practically went insane. Sitting in the confinement of his room, the man began to contemplate all of the changes that had taken place only to realize that he was alone. Alone in a room with nothing but temporary satisfactions and a terribly wasted mind. The man asked God why He had done such a thing to him. God responded by saying, "You should have concentrated on me and not the world because I am the world and without Me, you will continue to fail."