Ghetto tribune

 

 

With a mind like Michael And a soul like JJ

They hate me

 

Cuz

 

Thelma and I both though Keith was hot

 

Moms always dropped knowledge that would have made Florida's head spin

Wilona was my cousin and my sister her twin

 

My dad’s name was James and he did cut out after a season or two

 

Death not of natural causes

 

The one that swept the 80's ghetto

Victims soul dead

Walking zombies

Hearts retarded

 

Had hella neighbors named penny

Still do

 

By the time she was 15

had a baby daddy that was 20

and more than a few

 

A lot of em still trying to escape the ghetto but the rattings are slippin

And the government is losing interest

 

They say the world is going broke

But money the ghetto never had

 

They say the world is at war

but in the ghetto every day is won

 

We tell the children to go to school and get and education

but worldwide its worthless

 

I look at my nephew and my godson and pray

The day never comes

They ask me

The correct way

To hold a gun

 

©Christopher F. Brown 2011

Technorati Tags: ghetto,change,culture,everyday,people,questions,cfbrown.com

The Joke Is

I am not a joke.

When you saw me that first time, were you scared?

Did you see the scars on my head and face and want to cross the street?

Did you clutch your clutch just a little tighter?

I know you didn’t think I was cute or sexy. You might have a few years and pounds back.

Maybe you saw me that day and my clothes that were ragged and out of style and thought I was poor, or a crackhead, or something to that effect.

Maybe you wanted to laugh.

I warn you, I am no joke.

That day you came upon me laughing and smiling; being generally happy I could see in your eyes you thought,

“how unmanly, punkish even.”

I tell you how sorry I feel for you. While I continue to do and be me fully and completely what do you see?

When you look in the mirror what stares back at you?

When you put on the latest and buy the greatest I wonder if you ever wonder,

“why?”

When you spend extra for the super silky human hair, or make sure you’re the tips of your locks are the perfect red, or even spend thirty dollars on the perfect brush to make your waves come out just so. Do you ever wonder,

“why?”

I am not the joke

©Christopher F. Brown 2009

sunshine

God woke me up this morning with the sun shining.

 

When I got to work it was the same ole

 

“Run, run, run, check all the e-mails, I have a thousand and five things to do and not enough time in the day to do them.”

 

I went to my desk and looked out the window and the sun was shining.

 

When it was time to clock out and was on my way home I for some reason always take notice; seeing all the hustle and bustle, people complaining and yelling on their cell phones, tapping and clicking away at their I phones, Blackberries or Laptops and mothers yelling at their children.

 

I looked out the window, up at the sky, and the sun was still shining.

 

©Christopher F. Brown 2009