Disrespect dressed up as pride,
You think a job means you can hide.
Independent now, or so you claim,
But I still see the dirt, the shame.
You brought her car, ignored my plea,
Called me toxic, unstable me.
Yet through your chaos I still stayed,
Through children, lies, the mess you made.
Through smoke and ****, through lazy days,
Through stubborn silence, twisted ways.
I gave you strength, I gave you ground,
But still you point, still spin me round.
I’m the reason you stand tall,
Not a hobo against the wall.
I pushed, I fought, I tried to raise,
But now you bask in victim’s praise.
You preach in church, you lift your hands,
Forget the family, break the plans.
Your phone, your world, your selfish pride,
While your own children stand aside.
So live your life, pretend you’re free,
But truth will always shadow thee.
Disrespect dressed up as growth
I see it clear, I’ve sworn my oath.
I’ll walk away, I’ll claim my peace,
Your hollow crown means my release.
You do you, enjoy the lie,
Next, if we should meet, it would take a great deal
of restraint to maintain a kind heart.
In all pleading and attempts at understanding,
remained an underlying distrust.
The disbelief of misplacing money,
extended by the feeling like a joke.
No room for Ha-Ha's / ain't a damn thing funny.
Sent into a position that would not budge.
Determination fixed, sent whirling and twirling with
zero fact 'n no time flat.
A suspicious umbra you put me on.
Fueled by a disbelief without reason.
The distance closing / violence quickly approaching.
Told keep it, all the while never having it.
no longer having it,
you let me have it.
Remaining respectful.
Shame on me / force of habit.
It's clear truth doesn't represent yourself.
Now I'll knock that picture off your shelf.
‘Nappy’
They call my curls a mystery,
An enigma to unwrap -
They feel the need to touch,
Then laugh when I get mad
They call it a crime scene -
‘How nobody could love that’
They call her wild and untamed,
My hair is not to be shamed
They treat my hair like a game -
‘Guess what hairstyle she has today’
They question the growth,
As if it’s one size only -
A black girls hair created the word diversity
The intricate pattern of curls,
How we are not restricted to one pattern
My hair is not an exhibition,
It’s not for your eyes to consume
My hair may be art,
But just like the mona lisa -
Touching is not allowed
I hate that I let people waste my time.
They'll clutter my head with busy chatter
and I let them unload their garbage.
They walk away without a clue
that they have defecated on my peace.
I keep thinking they'll get wise to it
but they never do and still I say nothing
but maybe just maybe today's the day...
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
Bumblebee Ding pollinates the daisies as the grasshoppers sing
The daisies like him, but here’s the thing, they call him a ding-a-ling
Not to be disrespectful, but it is their privilege and their way
For daisies are the flowers that want to forever play.
In my youth, I never whistled at a passing woman.
In my youth, I never made a raunchy catcall.
But I’m sure the gist of what I must've been thinking
could’ve made a city like Sodom or Gomorrah fall.
There’s a rage that ignites when someone damages you
An uncompromising, bewildering storm within.
Your brain churns with thoughts of vengeance,
A thousandfold wrath ready to erupt.
But do you compromise your soul to feed the fire?
It’s all connected, yet so utterly disconnected.
They have no idea what they’ve unleashed
This inner demon clawing at the gates.
A thousand futures, a million seconds
Pain stretched in weeks, rage forged in years.
Why do they disrespect you to this breaking point?
You give your all, pushing daily to do what’s right.
Are their inadequacies a mirror they can’t face?
Does their lack of perspective cast you as the villain?
You tried to be the hero, the good guy,
To stand on the side of justice and light.
But the disrespect it grinds, it gnaws, it sends you spiraling
To a place where rage eclipses reason.
I want to shatter the star line,
Reach into the void, and grind gold for planet 9.
To fix this fractured atmosphere of fury,
Before I lose myself in the abyss of their disregard.
It's when people/
Treat you like garbage/
That makes you/
Want to hide/
Under the table/
They are quick/
To judge everyone/
Without getting/
To know the real you/
People don't know me/
I'm not a bad guy/
Yet, they judge me/
Treat me like garbage/
Treat me with respect/
Because, I am not garbage/
I am a man of wisdom/
I've seen it all/
Take those masks off/
Be the real you/
Show me the respect/
Your heart is black/
If you treat me like garbage/
How would you feel/
If you were/
Treated like garbage/
Treat others/
How you want to be treated/
Respect, not garbage/
Respect, not hate/
Respect, don't judge/
Agape love, not garbage/
Because, you don't even know me/
Back and forth
The words shoot across
Slicing through my pale quivering skin
Sometimes there’s no pause for air
As the hate spews from both sides
I’m torn between the love I created
And the love that I have chosen
There’s no winning tonight
And it’s only just begun
March 16, 2024
There is no disrespect in letting go and moving on.
Left unchecked grief can hold you back, and that's when things all go wrong.
I used to be afraid:
afraid of being disrespected,
afraid of losing,
afraid of staying alone,
afraid of being cheated.
Now with the passing of time
and growing age,
with continuity of all these
I stated above,
has lost its density.
Lately, I have learned that,
those who disrespect,
they reflect their insecurity,
or their desire to be like me,
but they can't.
I have realized,
whatever I have lost,
is just the process of making place
for greater things waiting for me.
I have discovered,
staying alone is better
than losing mental peace.
And I have also understood,
being cheated is better than
continuing with pretending accompany;
Because early detection is always better,
whatever it is, heart attack or heartbreak.
I stand unapologetically me;
Unafraid to be different, unafraid to be bold,
I stand for the truth for it is gold
I raise my voice; let it be heard
With all due disrespect!
I rise above the fray, unbowed and without dismay,
My spirit unchained and free to soar
Unbound by the mocking, the scorn, the token
I rise with all due disrespect!
In a world that seeks conformity,
I refuse to blend into the crowd,
I proudly stand in my authenticity,
With all due disrespect, I speak loud.
My thoughts unfiltered, my actions unchained,
I dance to the rhythm of my own beat,
With all due disrespect, I embrace my reign,
Defying expectations, I won't retreat.
For I am a force to be reckoned with,
A rebel with a cause, a warrior in flight,
With all due disrespect, I boldly exist,
In the darkness, I am my own guiding light.
So let the critics scoff and the naysayers jeer,
I will not be swayed by their doubts or their fear,
With all due disrespect, I stand tall and clear,
Embracing my truth, unapologetically sincere.
Living is a lesson
The dead do not speak
Yet I find the sickest thought is the emotion of disrespect
You don't know me
Some never will
Yet I ride life's emotionally rollercoaster
Like a cheap thrill
Do they cross the line of no return
When you don't exercise what you feel
When you play make sure you win
Because the adversary is definitely real
Humbly;
With no disrespect,
Or ill manner;
Were I Jesus,
I’d build my church on her!
Simon Peter would deny me thrice,
But I could rely on her. I can.
She’s never let me down.
So, on her I’d build my church,
The foundation;
She’d be my rock.
And in her I’d plant my seed,
Assured; come harvest, I’ll reap!
Whatever you may think of this,
Precisely, it is as I mean!
@rudd_poetry
#PoetryNeverLies
#MyLife_MyPoetry
I
Fear of God was healthy for friends
The relationship was it, not ulterior ends
II
Fear of God is still widely spoken
Love of things, brings Promises broken
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