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Jimi Hendrix played, “Castles made of sand”
loudly,
too high to notice the storm cloud above us,
(Power Cord)
silence.
I walk shoulder to shoulder with a giant,
his tears wash my shirt clean
“And his tears fall and burn the garden green”
I am taller now. Who can champion slaughter?
We walk in sync on pavement that he owns,
the streets that I used to own
from purple and gold sprayed blank and blue
fury sweep from the lips of an outsider
He is black.
(Power Cord)
silence.
“Down the street you can hear her scream you’re a disgrace”
A mural of how young we thought we were, all of us
the enemy is real, his face is stuck on my faces
as detrimental as the fight music seeping from my car
in this moment he becomes too real, I’ve lost control.
“As she slams the door in his drunken face”
It cost too much to be a friend
how much more to be a brother?
I was too weak to hold him back, to
force him into conformity- he’s rejected
we stumble and fall backward, the both
of us, but he will recover first to rejoin the fight.
(Power Cord)
silence.
Again, I tranquilize him with muscle
muscle is all that we know with these colors
-they are not scholars
not on this concrete, not in this town
this man needs to be cut loose
this place rejects the ones like him
in an instant we are hot until cold
steel hugs us closer to one another
it’s his turn now, I’ve worn out my
jewelry and passed it on to some other
dark face-
“And so castles made of sand fall in the sea, eventually”
Sorry for overstepping our bounds sir
all in the name of manhood where a
friend can bear to have the feet cut once
until everyone is taken and forced into white
masks.
I put mine on voluntarily
because I was scarred too, early
It could be the perfect time to cry
that is to be expected, of a man
who sits in the dark, and whispers
prayers to God.
“And so castles made of sand fall in the sea, eventually”
(Power Cord)
silence.
© 2009 Chester Stoney III
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