The bodies lay in rigid rows,
each one with tag upon their toes.
Some with names: Teddy, Frank, or Joe;
but most are simply marked John Doe,
some torn apart; some no one knows.
The sky is full of cawing crows
and heavy with the winter snows;
while in the churned up mud below,
the bodies lay.
They fought those they were told were foes
in battles that they never chose;
“It is your duty, off you go.”
“Good man, chipper! Jolly good show.”
They know not where; I don’t suppose
the bodies lay.
The calm skies welcomed a light rain that lasted
a while, but suddenly natures unpredictable flare
gathered its clouds and burst into a heavy storm.
With intense luminescence of a lightning-lit sky,
the soft light precedes the shatter of thunder that
pierced the heavens with an iron bolt; and again,
repeating its uproarious cry until Zeus was satisfied.
At the storm’s climax, mirroring each other’s motion,
aligned together, our bare homologous bodies
in full sway intertwined under blue satin skies,
synchronize as an unwritten symphony, a bohemian
rhapsody of involuntary euphoria that seems to last
forever. When the storm finally subsides, relaxing
in each other’s arms, in search of a resolution unlike
the placelessness of other times never visited before.
Our eyes shut, the words “I love you” yet unsaid.
Bodies float.
Down the deep blue sea,
Washed up on shore,
The life of a Black person no more.
Evidence erased -
By tidal waves,
Or -
So they say,
They claim,
It was an - ACCIDENT
But that is just hearsay
But…
There’s a pattern,
And more and more deaths happen,
Stories don’t add up,
Autopsies - covered up.
One plus one equals two,
And yet in the case of these Black bodies - this is not true,
Somewhere along the lines the truth,
Has been misconstrued.
Like a game of chinese whispers -
Like a solution that doesn’t match the problem.
In the end we will never know,
But bruises don’t just show,
And swimming doesn’t cause head trauma
And yet a blow to the head suggests - Murder?
Secrets eventually surface,
Promises made, are promises broken,
The courts favour the right to blame water,
And in the end we were burned,
By -
The so-called justice system
Watching.
Staring.
Filming.
But,
Not -
Seeing.
Stopping.
Preventing.
The art of being a bystander -
Is not art, but bloodshed,
It is an act of inhumanity,
To watch Black bodies fall,
The modernised version of lynchings,
Where everyone is complicit -
And no one is innocent
The world’s cruelty knows no bounds,
Where the spectacle of Black death -
Brings people together as one,
From different communities and cultures,
To share the moment - where a Black life is gone
When it comes to the death of a Black person,
The world becomes desensitised to the horrors,
That are done to us -
To them it’s a way to gain followers -
A way to boost their social media platforms
Even videos of animal neglect gets more sympathy,
Their empathy extends only to animals,
But when a Black person is tortured -
For no reason,
The world claims it was our fault
The bystander effect was just an excuse to hide from -
Being held accountable,
Of being complicit - an accessory to murder
In the midst of her gathering, I adorned her with my eyes as I see into her eyes a beautiful soul through the window, I can see her heart beating, I smell the fragrance of her blood excreting.
Oh what a beautiful array
My nose come close to her space. She has such a sweet essence.
Closer and closer, I come into her presence, I disregard everything else I look up more into the skies to heaven simultaneously, looking yet still into her eyes to her soul. Spirit smells of jasmine
Oh what a beautiful array
My lips as I walk ever closer to her her grace, her face shines as I walk over yet and still step-by-step closer to her body, her face resonates I touch her lips with my words. I embrace her heart with my spirit. My hands and arms reach up and out word. I am case her velvet body. I embrace, I touch your face with a kiss. For her spirit , soul in body , her bodies are sweet
Oh, what an beloved beautiful array
Her bodies sweet
5/11/26
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr 2026
Hokum pokum
we don’t tokum
Chocolate cigarettes
our kids smoke ‘em
Wheaties Eaties
our kids don’t need ‘em
Steroids for breakfast’s ~
what we feed ‘em
Our bodies were celebrities, before we knew fame
Privacy was a luxury, stolen from our innocence,
Our curves measured, scrutinised by envy,
Scales became friends without the empathy,
Put under a microscope, our bodies criticised for growing,
A black girls body, becomes front page news -
The buzzword they religiously used, ‘fast’ as if it were choice
Shamed for being curvy, yet paying for our shape to be replicated,
They instil hate, to make us shrink -
Just for them to showcase the bodies they claim to ‘hate’
Stealing credit, and robbing the spotlight
The aim of their game, was to install shame -
To feel better, for not being naturally shaped
Paper reviews and media highlights,
No protection, just unwanted exposure,
Contracts signed without our permission,
To showcase our bodies, like we are caged animals
Turned into a circus, to point and laugh at,
To hide the fact, that they wish they were black,
Their skin green, with the envy of our blackness -
Projecting hate in disguise of jealousy,
Trapped in a state of constant sadness,
For not living up to an image they worked hard to perfect
Our bodies, were just caught in the crossfires of their anger
Every trafficker has this green dream
Profit off of others bodies make money
Selling girls and selling their souls
Trying to outrun karma and Holy Ghost
Emerald eyes of the liquid law pales
Inside job if it was who will tell
Now doing time in a hot hell’s jail
snakes love sleeping bags
cuddling next to warm bodies
I like hotel rooms
I hear voices in my head,
I touch pain
On every television
Except the typical symbols
Of hegemony
Except in a white building
Miles and miles away,
I touch pain!
For every leaf that falls,
Swallowed by the burning hell
From the mighty birds
Of weird names F 16, F 35...
I hear these voices,
We hear these voices -
Miles away, node in unison,
"The world rules order" Has exemptions
I wake up with a heart hurt
Deeply as though resting on safety pins,
Miles and miles away -
A voice in Downing Street
Sings a weird song
" A right to defend itself"
Uproots 37+ younger leaves daily,
Shame officially abolished
In the self proclaimed democracies -
Is humanity this wicked?
Is mainstream media this cheap?
Should religion blind us this deep?
What were the chances?
Even if just one percent,
I would redo the calculations,
Till my body turns to ashes.
The times we spent together—
Were the ones that made me fall in love with existance, with you.
Even when we're not on good terms,
If the universe gave me another chance,
I would.
However things aren't the same,
Like seasons,
The summer left and winter arrived—
The cold breeze was enough to make me realize.
Your smile—
Echoed in my brain like a prayer,
Rewriting the mistakes I did,
Making it easier to breathe.
Love of my life, you were.
If asked now—you are.
Same spirit different bodies—
We were nature's beauty,
Now ruined by human desire.
Fate turned her back on me—
And you, followed the light.
Under the tree where the bodies hang
swaying, dancing in the gelid breeze
neath their rotting toes, the children sang;
slow circling a boy; they taunt and tease.
"It's your father and your mother, too,"
they chant, as one, fiery eyes aglow,
"Who dance on the rope, and soon will you."
to the cadence of a cawing crow.
"We'll slice you up and cook us a stew."
the chant gets faster. Each takes a knife
"Then we'll boil your bones and make some glue."
thirteen stabs put an end to a life.
They braise the boy, then each they follow
from dark black cauldron upon a fire;
of steaming stew, they take a swallow;
each with each other, they now conspire.
"We sliced you up and cooked us a stew."
the singing slows as the children fill
"And no one cares because no one knew."
soon, sleep takes over the early thrill.
Wolf was waiting on the edge of dark
thirteen children who once danced and sang
become just a stain, a bloody mark;
under the tree where the bodies hang.
The Sun gives all of us light,
And we all do for it fight,
And it also provides us heat,
Making darkness - Retreat.
The black hole is for us the traps,
Which we may fall into for travelling against our lives' maps,
The heat taken by a Comet to land on Earth,
Makes its beauty double the worth!
The Planets rotate around the Sun,
Silently and together in their own orbits,
This signifies working together as a group,
To bring back success to our troops.
The Moon when hidden makes the world dark,
Yet it does not complain about the eclipse,
When possible it gives us its light,
Making the darkness too bright!
The Stars are far but still do twinkle,
Taking away all our pain and wrinkles,
Their beauty they still maintain,
Even from that distance- As they are one of a kind!
Useless bodies
They roll around aimlessly
Ram into anything they can destroy
Their own pleasure.
Their own entertainment
It's all about them,
Let them live.
Ardor feels are divine
Bodies erotically entwine
Caresses eagerly connect
Desires meet to intersect
Emotions feed passion
Fondlings sassy fashion
Gasps praise movement
Hearts pump excitement
Intimate whispers tingle
Joining lips mingle
Kisses feed desire
Loins share ardor’s fire
Moving hips enthuse
Needy bodies fuse
Outcries express zeal
Pleasure pulses appeal
Quenched libidos slake
Ravenous wants take
Silk sensuality grooves
Tantalize rhythm moves
Unleashed hunger plunders
Velvet kisses thunder
Waves ebb and flow pleasure
Xanadu houses flesh treasure
Yearnings flame with lust
Zing intensifies thrust
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