[This Community Poem was written by the audience of the open mic which I hosted at Busboys and Poets 14th & V NW on Tuesday, August 31, 2021. I host there on 3rd Tuesdays and occasionally on a 5th Tuesday. The open mic has recently been moved to a 7-9pm time frame and proof of COVID vaccination will be required upon entry as per recently updated DC guidelines.]

20 years of imperialistic war, but what was it for?
Why is it that nobody asks who made all the cash?
Why are the answers silenced?
The truth won’t bring you gold
It tears down your lies
Colonial greed
Yea, we know the answers
But the truth is bitter
Bitter is as bitter does
Does it matter how many standing ovations I got?
At the end of the day all that matters is family and your homies
GOOD SEX and JESUS!!!
Let’s all say it loud!
I’m Black and I’m proud!
Smoking on some loud…
Now I’m High & thinking
Getting twisted and bent looking to end the night with a good kiss
Riding & cruising enjoying life
Drinking and sipping enjoying the night
Good vibes, good times
I get so lost in your eyes and truly my best highs are when I’m grasping on your thighs and comforting your cries
I wake up, yeeeahhhh, I wake up
Sun in my face, God is my grace
I fucked around a few times, but now I’m saving face
I know who I am, I found my place
I have a home, I go my own pace
But sometimes my body moves without me
Which is sick and twisted
I wish I was a vegetable in a grocery store getting misted
Or on the beach in an exotic new location
Love never leaves a heart where it found it
If this is what love is
Then I guess I’m loveless
Made it here just in time
As usual, everything is just fine
Yesterday was a gift
That’s y we call today present
Here for a moment, so make the best of it
Rosebud eating every breath I give
You wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t been there
No such thing as fear
Just smoke you gotta clear
Because the way life has been designed into your destined path, it’s up to no one but you and your creator to do the math
Take time to enjoy the process and not just your success
When you break societal convention, the feeling is the best
Feelings of quitting, feelings of not being enough
Nah, fuck that
Sometimes strippers make the best babysitters
They do other things for that money honey
Fuck around and find out!
She do what she do so good, make you wanna cash out
Stuck in a trance, she took all your cash, now you assed out
Then I woke up
Yeeeeaaahhhh, I woke up
And it was allll a dream
My words taste of ice cream, sweeter than anything
Your nectar feeds my ancestral soul
Am I in heaven or hell?
Mmhm I think hell…well I never been to heaven soo
I roll up to get high enough to touch a cloud
Whenever I speak they don’t hear me
Is my language mute?
Left side, strong side, Remember these titans
Money on my mind, I need every dime
But we forgot the forgotten and remember the irrelevant
Blessings to all the lovers in the house
Old dreams are kicked around the dusty floor but we still love them softly
Like a slow clap
Gratefulness in mindful characteristics
Will create incentive to perceive life beyond measure
Won’t wake up
It’s a slow, terribly prolonged fall
A fall from life’s highest point
To the underground, surrounded by darkeness
But alone just the same
OH BUT U THOUGHT YOU WERE RIGHT
SAW ME
HEARD ME
BUT LEFT ME