Dancing With The Devil

"The devil you know is better than the devil you don't"
... Looking over my shoulder
Eyes reminiscing over foot prints
The grappling that took place
...laughing and crying
Bleeding and sweating

Eyes
Dancing along the foot prints on the ground
Teaching the steps
How you got from there
To here
The wrong decisions
Balled up and littered along the way
I stand
Barefoot
Covered in dirt and cuts
Looking just as cherished as your childhood
That wasn't an ideal
But was still YOUR childhood

Claiming it as yourself, careful not to hold on too tight
Oils, sweat, tears, blood on your hands distorting it
Changing it for fear of being known
Not for the better
You tuck it into your backpack
Give me one final look
One final smile
One final tear
Then continue down the way
Walking to the rhythm of our song
I sing
With you

By The Power Of Cracked Skulls...

Give me strength/

Give me freedom or death or both/

Give me land labored on, labored for hope, fertilized with my blood, sweat, and tears/

Give me a chance/

Give me a hand/

From an untampered deck/

Give life, liberty/

Just us/

Not them/

Give me a blind fold/

Give me a .45/ Give me a taser/ 

Let me see which one is heavier/

Deadlier/

Let me see if I mistake one for the other/

Give me a gun, place it next to my body/

Place it at the crime scene/

Place it in the report to justify a coviction/

Justify no parol/

Justify the chair/

Justifty not overturning the death penalty/

Give me a flag/

Give me a ballot/

Give me a candidate without a "team"/

Without a logo/

Without colors or a American Flag pinned to their jacket

Give me a smile/

Keep it there, on your face/

Keep your pockets empty/

It's not a place to keep your hands/

Your dreams/ Your I.D./ Your Gun/

Your smile/

Keep it on your face/

Quick!/ Give me some money, I want to buy that smile from you/

Keep it with me always/ Wear it around my neck/

No...smiles are not accessories/

Keep it, I need to find my own/

Give me hope/

Give me a mirror/

Show me what you see so I can see it too/

So I can fix it/

So I can enhance it/

So I know how to describe it to the cops rather than say "He was black"/

"He was suspicious"/

"He was wearing a hoodie..."/

Give...me... a reason/

Give me my brothers so I can give them hug without the phrase "no homo" being involved/

Give me a (straight) answer/

Don't duck and dodge my questions/

They won't hurt you....just your career/

Your title/

Your image that you portray/

NOT THE ONE YOU SEE IN THE MIRROR/

IT'S THE ONE THAT YOU FIXED/

THE ONE THAT YOU ENHANCED/

THE ONE YOU CAN DESCRIBE TO THE PUBLIC RATHER THAN SAY/

"VOTE FOR ME, I'M HUMAN. I MAKE MISTAKES JUST LIKE THE PERSON IN OFFICE BEFORE ME AND BEFORE HIM AND BEFORE HIM AND BEFORE HIM/

...give me...a fucking break/

"Get me a iced tea and a pack of Skittles since you're making a run."/

Give me a smile...so I can put it on my face and keep it there.                                                                                                                                                                

Don't Speak

I hold in my hands
Palms pressed together in prayer

They are not mine

Found in the lap of another

Carelessly placed in my care

I wish only to return them

A burden of closure

Drawing me closer

To the caricature of who I was

Rather than who I am

Out dated programming

Needing human input

My reaction is unexpected

Yet understood

Receiving kudos under the table

Disrupted by fist pounding the top

Labeled a villain 

Status Quo keeps turning on the spindle

Say nothing

Don't make it weird

Use this time to smell fruit

Flowers and the like

Don't look for peace

It will find you

Just hold still

Close your eyes

Say "Ahh"

But not with your mouth

Kiss as passionate as you'd like

But not with your lips

Use only the palms of your hands

Pressed together in prayer

Til they are take from you

As you have taken

Thief