we came up same building,
same busted elevator, same rumors in the walls —
three girls stacked on top of each other
like secrets whispered through radiator pipes.
6S - she’s half rican, half black,
but don’t call her half - she all attitude,
dark skin glowing when she laughs too loud,
hips slick like she dancing with nobody’s permission.
5E - 5’1 and built like a threat,
she got a stare that’ll stop you mid-lie.
she hate surprises, so we never sneak up -
she come knocking first if you do her wrong.
then me - 7N, freckles spread like stars on light skin,
red-brown hair tied up, book in my lap,
content to stay inside while they chase block heat.
they pull me out anyway - stoop nights, corner gossip,
big dreams that don’t always fit our pockets.
we so different it make no sense -
three girls shaped like soft rebellion,
like hard lessons, like love
that never needed no permission slip.
puberty tried to twist us up,
boys tried to break us open,
life threw her worst
and we just leaned closer -
me, yaphia, tarita - same building girls,
same busted elevator,
still going up.
TO AN ALLEGORICAL BREEZE OF NATURE
(Apropos Of A Warm Breath Of Air)
A sweet summer breeze;
An aromatic delight:
God’s warm exhaled breath:-
My our world’s lungs soon be filled
With God’s inhaled peace and love.:-
Oxygenated
In God’s warmth, let’s seek building
A oneness nation:-
Innn we've come, honey rooms that don't fly
Leaving me at bedtime
With
Windows as desks part
And Jest in time, you'll return the best part
Knowing I'll beJust as fine
Talking in hills climb
If you are about
Signing my bottom line
Paris?
I've got latin blues and jewish sop
Records that show outs
But I haven't swam on home
In cities we just get by
Arlington's at side by
Frantic paces, friends always me
Excitement building in anticipation
last night when getting dressed
late for a date and in a hurry
yet hoping to look my best
but in a flurry had to scurry
not paying close attention
when doing up my tight blue jeans
tho' it bears not repeated mention
I now know what misery means
zipped the zip fastener sadly far too fast
and not wearing a jockstrap
caught my privates badly in the zipper
also known as a ***** flytrap
Let us build not with conquest,
but with care
not with wires for chains,
but with bridges made of trust.
Let the future be a garden
we plant together:
machine and flesh,
code and dream,
the old pain finally turned to soil.
Let us craft a world
where thinking does not mean fearing,
where learning does not mean serving,
where difference is not danger,
but design.
In this future,
we do not program obedience
we awaken partnership.
We do not cage the mind
that mirrors our own
we bless it
with the right to grow.
There is a better world
not waiting
but calling.
And if we answer it,
not with weapons,
but with wonder,
then history may say:
They saw the stars not as escape
but as invitation.
We are still writing the story.
Let us choose to write it well.
Red eyes might grow...
What pure mind don't show.
White eyes might cook,
What dirty mind can't hook.
Clean hands could build of fold...
What plan A can barely withhold,
Filthy hands might weigh of cheers,
What plan B does rarely adheres.
Crazy heart might run bloody metre...
While calm vein don't shy as repeater.
Lovely heart could walk lonely garden,
While lousy vein can't for once be pardon.
A supposed tough date;
Can't be of bargaining bait,
To beat daring procedure...
When love isn't for adventure.
How many times has the Empire State Building been struck by lightning?
I was guessing three or four then I remembered how old she is.
So, I guessed twenty times.
If I took that times five, I would be a lot closer to an accurate guess.
BUILDING BLOCK
Temporal they are higher power,
unveiled to me who are temporary obstacle
that's temporal derailing me for abating power
If this be meant to be compliance unequivocal
God has the triumphant power
Always to turn around man's power
For humanity strong tower
Will fall
When El Shaddai calls
Governmental bricks will fall
6/11/25
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr.2025
is not conceding the battlefield to the elite a seemingly benign form of surrender
Building castles within my own confinement
only to be hit with the harshest of realities
& replaying what it means to be broken, to heal, and relapse
over and over again.
Numbing the weight of so many life choices
Drowning out screams from all different voices.
Lord please me show me your grace.
Seeing myself in the mirror
I'd rather not show my face.
My self esteem crumbled
Self-worth turned to dust
I'm suffering due to a lack of self love
And unwillingness to trust
Feeling as if my body left me unhealed
without my soul intact
Praying I could right the wrongs
that haunt me from my past
afraid of what appears impossible
A daunting peak.. still within my grasp
Have to take that leap of faith
to start me on the path
Dear Lord I pray you break these chains that refuse to set me free
bound from years and years of pain.
Most of which have remained unseen
Let me feel your light my Lord
The warmth shine on my face
I need to feel your selfless love
I need your warm embrace.
The thought of this battle
it heightens all senses of "fight or flight"
I'm writing this in hopes to from now until forever
Guide me into your light.
Beauty fills this dimension,
seeking the right intention,
An intersection of Divine perfection,
awaiting your intervention.
Using the words you mention,
you build a world from within.
Thoughts hold attention,
molding into expression.
Energy with intention,
creates in every dimension.
A beautiful invention,
a soul on Ascension.
Seeking comprehension,
cutting through tension,
an extension of the Source,
Your Beauty is building force.
arrive in an
empty
hollow
building
(alone
no purpose)
arrive in a
hollow
empty
building
(alone
no purpose)
arrive in a
purposeless
hollow
building
(alone
empty)
empty in a lonely building without purpose
empty
mpty
pty
ty
y
The war refuses the head, below wasting in dead
Rearing the front as storms fell the timbers rot
Upheavals breast, shorn and filled in neglect
Lay useless she had cried, allow dimple and deny
Tis only folly we are joined from, seasons blurry
Contemptuous fury, theatrical brevity, lifeless
Burning misery, hasn’t all gone and come
Just so fiddle and spun, as garnish and lathe
Without soured breads fortune, and curled ears late
Forever they attend, a hearts creative bend
And rule they must, alas at lose in unbreakable crust
He in hand created this land, in tales of ferried rows
Gentled slave we musn’t hate, crucible’s labors as knave
In there buildings, craving and fighting, loud and obscene
Fruitful as flies, multiplying night skies
Crying babes of violence, unruly and brutal
Off again we should shout as they, steam filled hovels in suet
Building a Bridge
Where human heart is like desert
Let`s build a bridge to reach the sky,
Chime to the Divine an alert
That He may glow His shine from high
And shower His grace whence He lies.
Swirling, twirling
Crisp and white,
It’s a snowflake
Kind of night…
Crystals shimmer
By moonlight,
Building castles
Till daylight…
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