theessential

[theessential]

Where Is The Niggerati?

Dreams of black writers

black, queer like me

conversations never grow tired

a unified future we all see.

No more microaggressions

or awkward, harrowing looks

or acts of repression

or reminders of what they took.

Beautiful black faces

inhabiting all my favorite places

no more speaking in code

switching for whites is only for the old.

Our time is coming to the tide

all of our trials taken in stride

for now we become wise 

consistently exposing the oppressor’s lies.

[theessential]

Freedom

Essential:

Freedom from the 9-5/ Freedom to feel what it means to be alive/ Freedom to no longer believe a lie/ Freedom from the leers of blue eyes/ Freedom to help black lives/ Freedom to get a slice of the devil’s pie/ Freedom from hearing their entitled cries/ for something new when they don’t even know their size/ Freedom to choose my own prize/ Freedom to pay the price

I am free

free to be me

as black as I can be

melanin beaming, light shines on me

[theessential]

Taste Garden

She sat cross legged on the stoop selling crack

not for herself but for him

she’ll serve his set 

and he’ll come back and collect.

Side by side folded into each other 

sitting on the same stoop for hours

behind her smile she can’t help but wonder

did his beating of her belie his gift of flowers.

Wanting to be seen but just ending up being mean

afraid to show our feelings like cowards

this is why our relationship is internecine,

at odds causing opposing rain showers.

[theessential]

Toni Morrison

Essentially:

pristine sadism, fabricated hatred, fraudulent love

Toni Morrison save us from the grips of them all

as you look down from above

and see whats come of us all

misguided love like a blind dove sent to find Peter and Paul

buildings broken into for the fun of it all

we choose to be outdoors 

[theessential]

Morning Coffee

Essential

The sweet taste of solitude,

 in a cup 

full of all of my dreams.

Presented to me while

I am at my best?

Only the wicked wonder about rest

[theessential]

Three Weeks

Essential:

Week one                                                                                                                Week two                                                                                                                Week three

A panic that subsides and                                                                                   a reassurance we’ll survive----                                                              assurance can not last for long

Pandemic-----                                                                                                        the next two weeks are crucial                                                                      more crucial than week one?

Professionals represented by idiocy in its true form (greed) 

when placement of power is a lottery with predetermined drawings-------                                           American capitalism

[theessential]

Sittin Up In My Room

Essential:

Smoking up in my room                                               

Sipping up in my room

Sewing on my loom up in my room

Contemplating our impending doom up in my room

Inspiration bombs going off boom up in my room

Mask off you can’t assume no more up in my room 

[theessential]

Downtown

Nonessential:

inspired by Craig Arnold’s, “Ghazal for Garcia Lorca”

All you do is go downtown                                                                                     Dirty, disgusting, disheveled downtown

Now the stores are closed, the people are sick                                                     All who wander are lost now downtown

[theessential]

Isolation

Essential/Nonessential:

Would you have worked even if they gave you a choice,

to be a mindless drone is easy when you suppress your voice

Retreat to your virtual world where societal standards become evermore a social capital

Information thrown through the TV onto your face

Force fed to keep you in one place

Take it all in stride, cover your mouth but don’t forget your social contract, the unborn vow

Lay in the night, let your dreams sow seeds of revolution

Change the thoughts into a solution

[theessential]

Being Treated like Shit

Nonessential:

The one that’s meant for you, is there one meant for you?

no, they linger with ill intentions, always with faces of two

He treats you like shit, does he treat me like shit too?

I guess we’re all shit, pissy caca doodoo

[theessential]

Bank Account

Essential: No matter how much lies in my bank account

                Will it ever be enough to fuel the mouth

the one that tends to open

when the hand can not count

it will start to grab and boast and tout

[theessential]

Thirst

Essential: Bottles of water piling up in the space i made for you

                 Eighths being ground up and rolled into joints,

no smoke for you

[theessential]

Gay

Essential: Letting someone inside of you 

                                          who has been inside

                                           of another

                        you’re just an other

The feeling of wanting

                                           to be first but settling for

second like keeping a secret can be a weapon

the truth always teaches a discerning lesson

blessing

[theessential]

Weed

Essential: I’ve smoked for the 80th time today, is 80 too much

                There’s never enough, when its gone 

you long for more

                             then its time to score, 

                                                                                      no contact 

leave it at the door