look
i don't know you
and you really don't know me...
but, listen.
we're family
and even though we were never really around each other much
i do care for you

little cousin
you've been hugging the block
hard
so hard
you're deep into that life
and it pains me
because as you change to accommodate it:
late nights, white tees, baggy jeans, jewelery
it darkens your beauty
and as it makes you money
it steals from you:
you're humanity
your will to do right
it blinds you
stealing your sight

little cousin
i've watched your immersion
all of us, we've watched.
we witnessed you testing the waters with a toe
and i saw you transition from experimentation to being in deep
now, complete submersion
you're underneath
drowning
drowning
in this destructive lifestyle
content to do so
not realizing, understanding that you are taunting your intelligence
and as they restrain you
i hope you realize that you've enslaved yourself with the choices you've made.

little cousin
i saw you in the newspaper, on the news
cuffed and escorted
you've chosen a path
and i'm not here to judge
but this isn't good
we're scared for you
please don't let us have to bury you before your time

like i said
i don't know you
and vice versa
but you're family
and i care for you
believe me
i do.


can i get a blue’s clue
lemme sit down in my thinking chair
and think think think
about how this child’s mother must feel
killed the day before his departure to school
a young man intent on furthering his education
deaded by those whose only intent is on staying amongst the gutter
and causing disorder and chaos
how is it possible to take a life, cause grievous bodily harm
and get away scott free

how can we escape this fuckery?
the fuckery of this island we
just happen to live in:
an overflowing cesspool of bullshit that we can’t keep under control
will we drown in this ocean of crap that we’ve created
with our refusal to accept our own destructive role

is this legal system failing with its numerous loopholes
that allow murderers to run free
but keep a man in possession of a little bag of weed behind bars f or years
where is kellon’s family’s peace of mind
nonexistent

when justice so far from being served
it’s a grief with an undercurrent of annoyance
stabbed multiple times
killed by a single puncture wound to the heart
how do you explain to a mother that she’ll never see her son’s beautiful smile?
how do you tell her that the being born of her breathes no more?

and to the accused i ask
who are you to decide
who lives and who dies
have you no conscience?
have you no shame for the pain in his mama’s eyes?
not guilty?
a life for a chain,
reasonable?

i was listening when common sense said
we are leaning on a wall that ain’t stable
and i can testify to witnessing babies having babies
babies killing babies
not realizing that
they’re eradicating families
demonstrating that they have no conscience
sense isn’t common
and we fester in the warzone we’ve created
failing to teach them that we’re all related

and to the accused i ask
do you not understand that you have broken numerous hearts with your vile, heinous deeds?
how are we to cope with not only grief with an undercurrent of annoyance,
but also annoyance with an undercurrent of grief that this injustice leaves
forcing us to question the decisions being made
forcing us to fall back upon
the superiority of whites over blacks
forcing us to ask and suspect
that we can bring death to anyone with impunity
what the fuck is this?
how could you leave this family, this island to grieve?

but who are the yous i’m referring to?
numerous attackers
none convicted
where’s the justice in this island system?
so many criminals allowed to slip through loopholes

but who are we to place blame
because we are failing ourselves as a whole
too fearful to speak up and bring light to what has been untold
the lack of evidence is questionable
and our island is left to dwindle, to drain down a hole
that we may never be able to pull ourselves from
where’s the concern?
what the hell is this nonchalance?
we are steeped in fuckery
we are lost and losing souls
we exist as loopholes.