GEMINI: WHAT ARE YOU FIGHTING FOR?
September 18th, 2015 | By Sonnie

Articles Tagged: Spoken Word
A quarter for frozen Kool-Aid
Hydrants sprouting water
Mother’s watching all the kids, not just theirs
It was my ghetto.
My Moms made us clean up trash
Help older neighbors unload groceries
Turn down tips to get more frozen Kool-Aid
Be home before the street lights come on
Don’t dare judge someone by what they have
It’s by the grace of God you are where you are
That’s a strong black woman
Neighborhood boys didn’t post up by playgrounds
They stepped in and stopped fights
In their own way; doing a little good
I had one say, “You gonna be bad lil mama,
Don’t let them play you”
To young to know exactly what he meant
But I remember those words
Thank you for the advice, brother
That crazy old lady that chased you for no reason
Forcing hugs and kisses upon your face
Smelling like a concoction of all bad scents
Never knowing until to late
The pain that got her there
Husband killed fighting in War
Two sons killed fighting in the streets
A soul lost to TOOO much pain
I would’ve hugged back had I known
Green Eyed Brown Skinned Girls
Judging you by what they see in the mirror
To insecure to ask for help
They hate you for having the answers
Because you were born to look like you do
You can’t be smart and talented too,
Why can’t I?
While you dance and prance
I read and write
While you fix your hair
I increase my vocabulary
Whose wrong? Whose right?
And yes, I would like that supersized
I’m out the hood now
But I Remember
My Moms (God rest her soul)
My neighbors
My Post-up boys
My Crazy old lady
My Ghetto girls
And I am thankful
I didn’t have the material things
But I had what I needed to make it in life
So many lessons from my ghetto
In my mind
I see darkness
Well not darkness
but less light than normal
I like it that way
Power outages force
You to look outside
Only a yearning for light
Would cause a search for candles
I don’t seek
I pierce out the window
Judging things I see
In short lightening burst
Neglectful of things out of place
Inside! I didn’t admit that
I chuckle and laugh because
What else could I do?
Find light inside
Examine painful echos of the past
I don’t have all day for tears
So I’ll keep it dark
And prioritized by emotion
Allowing light to flicker in
Maybe I’ll look, Maybe I won’t
I like it that way
Word spoken from my Father’s drunken lips
Eclipse any words spoken by another
Given the Source
You’d think I’d enforce, a notion to rediscover
If the facts He’d teach and the words He’d preach
Would help me to reach, his destinatioon
Maybe a Black Man’s Word isn’t for me
But it’s what I see
Lose in excuses, traumatized by abuses
Segregation
Degradation
Procrastination
Those are a Black Man’s Words
They cause
Stagnation
Aggrevation
Procrastination
Eventually total Annihilation
Not in existence
But in dreams
Cuz I’m here, A Black Man
Lost in excuses, traumatized by abuses
Standing in front of you with words
And Dreams
Dreams filled with
Motivation
Determination
Perspiration
Leading to an Allocation of Hope
That’s all I have
Hopes, Dreams, and a Black Man’s Words
This is a short from my Stage Play.
In middle school
I was such a fool
Thinking I needed the approval of those around me
I stayed inside
Wanted to hide
Til this one man found me
He said look at your legs
The shape of your hips
Your slender waist
The curl of your lips
Your a dime
In that moment in time
I realized the beauty I held
In high school they wanted breast
I couldn’t fill a bra
So I stuck to passing my test
Never went on dates
Found so much in myself to hate
Til this guy said look at your legs
The shape of your hips
Your slender waist
The curl of your lips
I realized nothing had changed
The way other people saw me stayed the same
The difference? The way I saw myself
With darkness surrounding me, I try to climb
Willing myself, pushing already strained muscles,
Not expecting a hand to reach down and pull me up
Not expecting hands to reach from the darkness
And pull me back, but them come
Reaching out for my soul, forcing the load on my back
To double in weight
Shouts come, barely audible, but so loud
Understanding words, that make no sense combined
Understanding pain, so misdirected
What did I do so wrong?
I see bitterness and anger,
BUT I REFUSE TO MAKE THAT PLACE MY HOME
I see a way out
Light at the end of a road so dark
Sunshine piercing the night hues so common
No force beside gravity affects my ability to reach
Gravity can weigh me down
Problems will present themselves
But crumble at my WILL
Hands from the darkness are my biggest problem
Those that would block me by pulling me down
Instead of reaching up for themselves
Gladly would I fight for Pole Position
Never should I have to fight
Hands from the darkness to get to the light
You told me you loved me
And I loved you too
But I got a little tongue tied
And never managed to tell you
You told me you adored me
And for me, you’d always care
I never told you how I felt
I thought you’d always be there
You told me how you loved my eyes
How in the sun they would glisten
I never complimented you back
Sometimes I didn’t even listen
You tried to give me everything
If you had it, it was mine
I was going to repay
But I ran out of time
You tried to please me
But to my standards, you could never live up
I tried to deny you
But know I would die for your touch.
You finally found that love
Promised to a true lover by fate
I tried to live up to those standards
But I gave Too Little Too Late
Patiently waiting
For the changes inevitable to life
Those that surprise
Even when expected
Nothing more shocking
Though heavily anticipated
Maybe longed for, yet repressed
Boiling to the top
Latent but growing
Fingertips twitch
Shoulders tense
Lips pursed and ready to strike
Confused by the reaction
Never can be prepared
For Life
Nothing
But a feeling
An Invisible something
willing you forward
Questioned by those who ignore
That Feeling
It’s not materialistic
It’s soul searching
Where X marks the spot
Unseen to those who don’t search it out
Unknown to those who block out pain
Instead of dealing
It’s overwhelmingly strong
But bendable to emotion
When invited in, it takes hold
And shapes
And fills
And recreates
That Feeling
An invisible something
willing you forward.
Don’t question, Just Feel
That Feeling