Tag: Spoken Word

Minneapolis Burning

There’s rioting, violence and protesting in the streets
An unarmed black man dead, couldn’t breathe
Life snatched at the hands of crooked police
The definition of excessive force, broadcasts as the world sees
However, the root cause of the unrest is seldom appeased
But regardless is surely always followed by mention of peace
Tensions increase beyond the harsh rattle of bullets, batons and tear gas
As the National Guard is tasked to respond in battle to fight them back
The deafening angry noises of grievance won’t be easily silenced
By more needless violence to achieve compliance
Watch live another life taken, just add it to the quota
Of those long gone and those who still long for closure
Many won’t sleep tonight in Minneapolis, Minnesota
It will be a long time before all of this is over
As we mourn one more of life’s black murdered soldiers
Police just killed a restrained and incapacitated George Floyd out in public view
We all got to watch up-close, without a thing we could do
I wasn’t there, but I read about it everywhere and saw it in the news
“I can’t breathe”, imagine it was me, imagine it was me standing watching you
Laying breathless and helpless, unable to change your fate
Pleading with the officers who had you pinned down, before it became too late
Graphic imagery of a white police officer kneeling his weight on a black man’s neck
Who was already cuffed face down on the ground, so why that was necessary, I’ll never get
Nevertheless
I hear that he called out to his late mother with his last breath
And that a paramedic on the scene was refused permission to do a pulse check
I’ve heard police officers can’t refuse that but I don’t know enough yet
So much is done, so much is unsaid
So much is truth, yet mostly incorrect
Being black shouldn’t be a death sentence, I heard the Mayor say
And I read, George’s mother passed, 2 years ago to the day
I hope they’ll meet again together somewhere along the way
The people won’t be sleeping peacefully in Minneapolis, someone will have to pay
The city’s streets are burning as the acts of authority come under fire
Until justice is served, they’ll just keep justifying the riots
The people just want to be heard; the people are just tired
It’s not enough whenever murdering cops are just fired
First priority is the preservation of life, says the Chief of police
And there the blinding irony lies way beyond belief
While the FBI and Attorneys office request for people’s patience
And more information to help assist in their investigation
to determine whether a crime has been committed
The people’s frustration decides they’ve already seen all the evidence they need
therefore, that time is not permitted
Meanwhile, two black members of the CNN press reporting live on the protests were placed under arrest
I say it in jest, but on this day, police say freedom of journalism will not be televised, I guess
Yet the cameras keep on recording
And the internet keeps on reporting
Reposting, forwarding, rehashing, tagging and retweeting
Taking action on these new platforms for speaking
Sharing in this new modern era of reaching
There once was a time
I used to refuse to look and instead chose to hide
From the emotions I felt from the brutality I saw that hurt me inside
But I’ve heard and learned that the poet must not overt his eyes
Especially from the cruel sight of injustices and the images of lies
Deep down it’s all too familiar and doesn’t come as any surprise
We’ve seen and heard this inconceivable narrative play out so many countless times
Witness another unbelievable police snuff film
See the evil of another innocent black man killed
What is it that compels someone to put his knee into a man’s neck
And hold it there until that man can no longer draw breath
Actions of a man sworn in to preserve life, as well as to serve and protect
None in Minneapolis will sleep easy amidst this period of civil unrest
For what satisfactory justice does a wrongfully murdered black man get.
… See More

Are You There Yet

Are you a treasure or just a trophy
Are you a nice to have or a necessity

Are you the text message or the phone call
Are you making an effort or none at all

Are you a date night or just a late night
Are you the postcard or the plane flight

Are you a roller coaster or just a bike ride
Are you a mind blower or just a nice time

Are you closer now or just between the sheets
Are you making actual love or make believe

Do you ever question it or just accept it
Do you offer it or just expect it

Are you the main course or the side dish
Does it empower you or just impoverish

Are you doing it or just on the to do list
Are you the go for it or the I wish

Are you a make it happen or a wait and see
Are you a definite or a supposed to be

© Phoenix James.… See More

Jimmy’s Got A Loaded Gun

Shots fired
Jimmy’s got a loaded gun
What were you thinking
How do you intend to evacuate an already abandoned building
Filled with children
Already dead inside
Void of light
Self destructing, self employed victims of the night
Self deprecating, selfish and selfless
The ones they avoid
Seek, kill and destroy
You’re helpless
How can you help us
We..… See More

To The Fire

Wake up, Supernova.. rise and grind

If you want to shine then you’ve got to put in the time

If you haven’t got to go to work then why get up at three

Because I love progress more than I like sleep

Oh that’s just way too early; I couldn’t do that myself

Well then you just might spend the rest of your life working for someone else

I’m chasing my dreams while I’m awake

I’ll only miss the opportunities I didn’t take

I’ll only lose if my eyes ain’t on the prize

Sacrifice is to choose paying a price

If only 5% are willing to give then only 5% will get

The other 95 will just have to accept whatever’s left

Whatever’s left is the result of anything other than my best

Do better to get better, expect nothing less

Today I seize the beast by the horns

My painted face to the storm

Naked as the day I was born

Deep in the thorns

Redeeming all the pieces of me that were torn

This is the healing..… See More

Abort

We as man have become the robots and the androids we long sought to create to aid and to serve us
We exist now only to maintain and improve on the technological systems, machinery and electronics we’ve caused to exist
We are all now the maintenance workers and systems operators of them
We’ve taught them all we know
And enabled them to become faster than us and smarter than us
To even think for us
And in the process have allowed ourselves to become docile and dumb
We mighty, masterful, majestic, magnificent men once upon a time are now merely mechanical
Who now know only of the mechanics of the mechanisms we’ve made
Mightier than ourselves
Which now own us
And are the owners of our minds
See what we have become
Minute and minuscule microcosms of our former magnitude
Now consumed in the wizardry of circuitry
And ruled by our own embellished and fancified yet perishable and destructive, ill-formed finery
It is we that are at fault
We’ve come to naturally worship the functionality of man made accessories More than nature and mankind itself
And the human functioning people we once functioned as
We’ve fashioned ourselves into superficial cyborgs
Dependant on silicon and cellular communication
Our now neglected, ill-treated, broken down, corrupted, fried up, malfunctioned and fragmented faculties fail us
We’ve transformed ourselves into mentally manipulated mules
Driven by our own foolery
And so, the once wise, we now arrive as fools
Downgraded but updated to the latest upgrade
So now we’re disguised as cool
Redefined but no longer designed to concentrate in school
Or learn at the rate that we used to
We’ve high priced gadgets and lowered IQ’s
We’ve traded in our minds for more time
Our knowledge for technology
So of course, at the flick of a switch, the touch of a finger tip, everything appears to be working properly
Where was I?!
… See More

Indiscretions

To tell the truth
I’ve lost count of the amount of sexual encounters
But in the end when all is said and done
What really counts, is what it all amounts to
Subtract the time taken away, by each night and each day
Minus the cheap thrills and expensive bills and it doesn’t add up to much
I’m left still counting on finding the one for me
Take away the sex and I’d still do it for the company
So what really counts
What it is to be less young, less wild and carefree
Still smiling, less naive
With all that said
I still find myself spending time in bed with women I really have no business being with
Time that would’ve been better spent being with my kids
But at the same time without that, my two offspring wouldn’t even exist
Seems every time I cease and desist, out steps another seductress on a mission to please and persist
And my addictive personality makes good sex a thing hard to resist
Especially when I mostly get back only half as good as I give
I’m like what type of bad behaviour is this
Slipshoddiness, sloppiness, slovenliness
Perhaps therein lies what the problem is
You never know what you’re gonna get
And it’s all a little bit too hit and miss
How easily we forget
And retrospect doesn’t appear to be stopping this
Solving this
In my reconnaissance, I’ve lost sight of how many abortions I’ve played a part in over time
I’ve often contemplated if god is watching, sees it as murder and we’ll all be tried for our crimes
In this life, with it forever weighing on our minds
And in the afterlife, standing before all the faces of the lives we denied
Having to explain why
Why they were forced to die
As said, you never know what you’re gonna get
Speaking of which, death is a high price to pay just to get your needs met
Dick wet, pussy wet
I often say unprotected sex with a stranger is like a game of Russian roulette
But what’s stranger is how I all too often seem to forget with each new conquest
Developing a case of amnesia when it comes to that latex
I told my young teenage son to save sex
And if you don’t son, make it safe sex
Keep in mind I’m too young to be a grandparent yet
And so is your mum
Now he’s the same age as I was when I started having fun
And his sister and him are only apart by 10 months
So my wise advice is like a double contradiction when looking at my life and the things that I’ve done
Maybe I’ll be an old romantic still believing in love and that one day it’ll come
Maybe I missed it, maybe I jinxed it, dismissed it well before it begun
Maybe I’m an escapee, injured, still hurting, in pain and on the run
Loaded shotgun
Nevertheless, I’ve just left the boudoir of yet another woman I know in my heart isn’t the one
And I’m looking back at myself from the bathroom mirror
Like really???… See More