Articles Tagged: Spoken Word

GEMINI: WHAT ARE YOU FIGHTING FOR?

September 18th, 2015 | By Sonnie

My Ghetto

August 8th, 2008 | By Sonnie

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

I Like It That Way

July 29th, 2008 | By Sonnie

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

A Black Man’s Words

July 19th, 2008 | By Sonnie

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.

This Way, Naturally

July 9th, 2008 | By Sonnie

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

Hands from the Darkness

June 17th, 2008 | By Sonnie

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

TOO LITTLE TOO LATE

May 21st, 2008 | By Sonnie

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

May 18th, 2008 | By Sonnie

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

That Feeling

May 18th, 2008 | By Sonnie

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