Sleep

eye lids crept open
eyes didn't focus
mind is in motion

I feel my skull beneath my skin
i search for my soul
through my finger tips
running along the edge of my emotions

no finger prints
my fist are clinched
holding onto
smudged remains

i have rope burns
down to the bones in my hand
this rope has been hanging
here for a long time
from which i hang these words
now i can sleep


jrg
6/11/09
Copyright © 2009 by Jeff R. Ghee

Mud Face

mud face
not because I'm black

i tripped and fell face first
in a mud puddle
the reflection in the dark water was not mine
i turned myself over
it was me
i wiped off my face
it was not there
i cried into my hands
it felt familiar

i ran to look in the mirror
my face was behind my reflection
looking at the back of my head
i turned quickly to catch a glimpse

i saw myself
walking out the back side of the mirror
i went back to the mud puddle
there i was face down in my own reflection

my face still in my hands
still crying
still familiar
the reflection
still in dark water
it was still not mine

i stood over the mud puddle
reached up and turned myself over again
walked away
leaving behind
the mud
my face in my hands
my reflection in the mirror behind my head
catching a glimpse of me
face down in the mud puddle


jrg 01/9/06
Copyright © 2009 by Jeff R. Ghee

Black Hands Have Been Crying

Black hands crying
pushing dirt left and right
dirt under fingernails
digging into dark places
blackness smeared down the sides
of a hole so deep
eternity gave up trying to find the bottom
this is where many have decided to bury
their own self-blackness
beyond the grasp of a reaching hand
beyond the echoes of a voice calling out
hey black boy
hey black girl
why don’t you all come-on-back
Barack
Is here.

Jrg
Nov 2008

Copyright © 2009 by Jeff R. Ghee