Imagine
Somewhere
Somehow
You’ve been labelled a criminal
The type doing the enterprise thing
People approach you
Thinking you might be
Frightening
Not knowing you want a similar
You want a like thing
Peace
There will come a time
When you put on fancy clothes
Bridge the gap
Between day and night and
Get both sides to see the other
You come close at one point
A land sighting
Just to have the elitist
On both sides say
“We don’t like him.
There’s something off about his actions,
His motives.
Without understanding
We don’t like them.”
Even though you had endless discussions
Talking like friends
They refused to stand for you
Keeping up appearances
Judging your appearances
You refuse to provide them
With ID and such
Thinking it might end
While trying to make it out
Of a bad situation
Without guidance
You admit to mistakes
Padded with lies
From people you don’t even remember
You were a child then
But they’ve painted two years onto you
As your identification
Not the many years before
Nor the eternity since
Friends
You now despise that word
Bent
Was your mind
When you started realising
Your name was slandered
Became synonymous
With terrorising
Made it even worse
When you started talking about legalising
A plant with a greater value than tobacco
Import
Export
Improve globalising
Enlightening
All
On the benefits of decriminalising
That made it worst
Your political views
Put you on a list of
Potential wise men
Guys then
Were sent your way
From Jump Street
Mixed in with some
Tim Roths
Wearing Orange
Telling a commode story
But because they had good souls
Misinformed though they may have been
You play along
Because they were
True to their cause
And in this world
It’s hard to find men
They earn your respect
For doing the right thing
Yet you were offended
By their support of Geraldo’s statements
That it was your fault
If you had a hoodie in the park
And the victim of racial profiling
It was your responsibility
To give up your identity
They called that the right thing
Offense put aside
For months you were contemplating
Coming to the conclusion
For the sake of
Peace
For now
It was the right thing
So you can continue
All you’ve been doing
Is evangelising
Speaking to people they could never reach
Encouraging them
To do the right thing
Why would they listen
If they’re wearing black
And you’re doing the white thing
Telling them to hear you
Call yourself
Lightning
Unlike
The progress
Is slow
You need more time
So they need to understand
The context of this writing
Because no matter how they try
Or how many words exchanged
They don’t understand
Or love the community like you
Or your fear
It might end