Love Needs A Renaissance
How did we get here you ask, well...
Daddy used to preach look both ways before you cross the street
Because history is known to spend the block
And after I watched Jerome get shot in the daytime while kids were playing, Mrs. Johnson was gardening, and my two friends were sitting with me yelling to the crush across the street
Bullets changed the perspective of how I shoot my shot, these letters will not be forgotten
Compacted lead made me switch how I shoot my shot, a new court discipline, hard work they forgot
Life is too short to be playing games
And that day everyone outside will say the city changed
The bustle and hum at the corner light on 53rd has become numb
Dimly lit smiles all running from the elephant in the room
The city that once smiled has become a jungle of fear
But that day was not the genesis of change everyone will say
Nooooooo
Remember to look both ways, because before the spray-painted city was grey washed with appropriation the same thing happened to Bay
Baylee, act like a young lady Momma would teach
Now a teacher hoping she could plant a youth that would reach
Beyond potential and to the infinity of impossible, because Baylee dreamed of living at the beach
One she would never see because Mr. police man responded to the wrong code, assuming the skin tone, and then fear breached
Past the laws of human decency, 3 shots to the head now she tans at heavens beach
Momma's tears fill the ocean and then it rains on the city as the neighborhood mourns
Mr. Johnson owns a store across from the corner on 54th
Every time I walk in, he says what happened to love
And me being a young poet would always spit a few bars
Love is in the same cars the shooters use to hate
But love isn't exercised until it's too late
I watched LOVE lose its roots, so they use YOU as bait
Because they don't make love like they used to, the kind that hugs when you scream don't shoot
The kind not just looking to knock boots
We need the love that makes forever jealous to have a conversation with those no longer zealous to dig to the core
Love needs a Renaissance Mr. J
And who is going to lead it?
I walked out with my sweet tea and Honey BBQ Twists without an answer
But it made me think, why not me…
It's been a week since I went back to the store, my heart has just been heavy, but love is light
This morning, I think I saw a flicker at the corner light
The door alarm rings, "what happened to love?"
My reply holds a breath before my answer sees "I don't know but I think it's time for history to repeat..."
True love must be coming around the corner soon
This is my view every day, why don't you come and sit with me
p.s. chapter 1, the Renaissance is coming, and the British are dead...
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