Citizen

Ain’t united,
Ain’t the same.
Shouldn’t have to say
Black Lives Matter
but we do
because for some,
it don’t.

Protestin’

ain’t producin’
a solution.
Hashtags & videos
ain’t savin’ lives
(but then again, neither are police)

Can I call it

a sad day
when an army veteran
becomes a sniper,
kills police,
and is referred to
as evil?

or do i call him

a Hero
who took action
against injustice?

Congress

ain’t the solution
Laws
ain’t the solution
Body Cams
ain’t the solution
Conversations
ain’t the answer
 

Change the Culture

amerikkka

Until you can

see me, us, we,
as humans
this climate
will continue
 

And I will

continue
to be
unsafe

©2016 Clarence Barbee

In Response to Burning Houses

I don’t want to

post no more

protest poetry

in response to

slain captives of this land.

No amount of

angry rhetoric

will ever bring back

those big smiles

of our brothers and sisters,

we were forced to

lay to rest.

Don’t want no more

IG memes or hash-tags

as we become

arm-chair revolutionaries

with our

push button politics

protesting crooked policies

of police who hold the power.

Malcolm told us

about burning houses

yet we refused to listen;

so now we

suffer the consequences

in flames.

As my condolences

go out to families,

I ask,

Where is the justice

in this experiment

called integration?

Where is the justice

in this experiment

called america?

There is no justice

under

body cams

or

cell phone cams

or

dashboard cams

because

lady liberty is blind,

when it comes to

Black folk.