R.E.S.P.E.C.T

What am I to say
From a colored woman's prospective today
With my Brown skin
Dark eyes
Thrifty dreams
African American eyes

Feels like a hot breeze from Congo
Blowing my way
With echoes from the mountains
And whispers
Whispers
Manipulating my soul
To dance and sing
And listen to the drummers

Listen
Shhhhhhhhhhh

They are speaking to me
Can't you hear?

Sending a message out to us sista's
Us women of color
Us women of glory
And eternal everlasting

My ancestors look at us in discuss
With our chemical treated hair
Body exposed like we don't care

And my back pressed up against the wall
With my belly sticking out
And my tears that stained my cheek
And my intelligence turned weak

Us colored women today, yes us colored women today

What's next, they cut off the welfare checks
What's new, sistas looking for something to do?
And who's to say, we still gonna make more baba's

Won't even give us a job
Cause we belong to that African tribe

Won't even love and respect our brother
Cause we all have the dark skin color

Don't color me black; don't call me a lady,
Don't offer me fine wine, or a ride in your Mercedes

Don't give me your heart, or your passionate love campaign
Don't give me some other sister, worry to gain

Just give me truth, something pure and clean
Just give me respect like an African queen

I'm Afraid

I'm afraid of the future and all it may bring;
Yet I cry over the past and all it held.
Life is a voyage
Trapped in the uncertainty of today
With only the healing of our tears for comfort.

To admit need is to give into weakness
Yet not to approach love is to run from a challenge...
Such is life, for we can neither be winners nor losers -
We are stuck in a void
Due to the allowing of ourselves to be controlled
By the actions of others;
And often as not those actions
And our desires
Were not predestined to be the same
And we are left alone and lonely...

So, we must consider loneliness
As being the ultimate opportunity
To listen to the inner self...
And listen we must
To find the ability to look within
For the answers that plague the soul --

For in all adversities
All we really can depend on
Is that which we started with --
Ourselves…

New Life

I've been sitting around this life for years,
Not enough laughs and too many tears.
Trying to figure out where it all went,
These wasted years that I have spent.

Searching for something to go beyond,
Life's a stone skipping across a pond.
At the last skip, it hits with a splash,
Down the stone sinks, gone in a flash.

Pushing and pulling, it's tearing apart,
Poking and prodding an underused heart.
This dark velvet curtain that hides my soul,
Living this life has taken it's toll.

In a flash of bright light, the curtain is torn,
Tumbling down all tattered and worn.
Revealing new life, a child within,
Born free of hate, of suffering and sin.

Now my eyes see what has never been told,
Striving forth happy, confident and bold.
Into a world that's unfamiliar but friendly,
Into this new life my spirit will send me.

Living and laughing, loving it all,
I stood myself up and answered the call.
The darkness has gone, replaced by the light,
I gave up the darkness with hardly a fight.

I've been sitting around this life for years,
With laughter aplenty and hardly a tear.
Now I can see just where it all went,
Cherish every moment of this new life I've spent.

Have You Ever

Have you ever felt,
the cold and lifeless hand of an infant,
gazed into their unblinking eyes,
and observed the face of death,
when masked in bittersweet innocence?

Have you ever touched your dreams,
and felt the simplistic joy,
of feeling them become reality,
only to abandon them,
for reasons you cannot explain?

Have you ever watched your family,
who once shared the greatest of loves,
suffer an unforgettable and unforgivable tragedy,
that will slowly, painfully, and inevitably,
tear them all apart?

Do you know, firsthand,
the evil that resides deep within the heart of every man,
every woman, and every child?
Have you seen its face as it randomly seeks,
a soul to torment and destroy?

Do you know the darker side of life,
the one that awakens you,
in the still of the night,
crying to the unknowable God's,
‘Save me from myself. '?

Does your heart constantly question,
whether humanity is obtainable,
in a world corrupted with suffering,
and where war,is the favoured solution for peace?

If you really want to know me,
and understand the forces that compel me to move on,
then take these questions,
and take this pain,
for this who I am.

What Love Is

It is Love that gives me purpose

to change and grow and learn.

It is Love that guides me on this path

and helps me choose each turn.

It is Love that gives me courage

to stand against my fears;

to open up my heart to you,

to let you see my tears.

It is Love that gives me trust and hope

when little thing go wrong.

When distance stands between us,

it is Love that keeps me strong.

It is Love that offers harmony

and a friendship that is true.

How wonderful that I can share

a Love like this with you!

To Put It Simply, I Want You

I want to be your companion

and walk hand in hand,

your strength enveloping mine.

Autumn leaves falling,

scuffing feet and laughter,

sharing nights, not finished by the dark.

I want to be your confidant

as you pen your deepest

thoughts, as your heartaches

bleed and finally break free.

Your dreams, I keep as if my own.

I want to smile as you smile

and giggle with you

at nothing at all.

I want to be your lover

and find the passions

that move you to action.

I want to be the softness

that induces you to trust.

I want to the be the naughty

that makes you come back for more.

I want to please you.

I want to share your breakfast

and your dinner,

I want you in your shower

and in your bed and

with soft steps to bring you coffee.

Your strong arms, the legs

that power your thrust,

your lips of pleasure,

these are the fuel of my desire

no its no secret, my love,

and to put it very simply,

I WANT YOU.

Have I Ever

Have I ever told you

that if I sit really still and silent,

sometimes. I like to think

I can hear your heart beating

in time with mine?

Have I ever told you

when I listen to you speak to me

through lines and cords.

I imagine

your voice,

whispering into my ear?

Have I ever told you

that i wait out each day

in anticipation,

wanting

only an hour or two,

just a second in space and time,

to feel close to you?

Have I ever told you

that there has been times,

when I ached for you,

ached for you so badly,

that the emotions overwhelmed me..

and so I sat and cried?

Have I ever told you

that sometimes,

I will reach out,

touching your name

on this cold screen before me,

wishing

I could reach in

and pull you to me?

Have I ever told you

that after the first time I heard

the sound of your voice,

thousands of miles away,

I sat up all night,

turning our conversation over and over

in my mind,

examining it,

like some newly discovered species of flowers?

Have I ever told you

that I would give everything up,

just for one night

to be able to lay near you,

to feel your chest rise and fall

with each breath you take,

just to know that you are real?

Have I ever told you

that i dream of you often,

I dream of your reaching out

and touching my hand,

simply to let me know

that your are there,

and everything is okay?

Have I ever told you

have I still yet to tell you,

that i love you?