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Melvin Johnson Poem
Why can't I be free?
I never imagined this would happen to me.
Stuck inside this house,
unable to walk on my feet,
locked doors and sticky notes
everywhere for me to read.
Why can't I be free?
My mind is shutting down;
it feels like a catastrophe.
I'm getting mad at myself
because of these difficulties.
I look into familiar faces,
but I can't recognize my own family.
Why can't I be free?
Everyone is walking around
while I'm trapped inside of me.
I can see the ones I love,
but there is no memory.
Their faces are right before my eyes,
yet they're strangers staring back at me.
Why can't I be free?
Sometimes I'm acting irrationally.
Solitary confinement
feels like the place for me.
I'm locked inside a prison,
trapped within my own reality.
Why can't I be free?
This disease is taking
everything away from me.
There may be no cure,
no promise or possibility.
As my memories slowly disappear,
I'm afraid of what will remain of me.
BECAUSE ALL I EVER WANTED
WAS TO BE FREE,
BUT WHEN I LOOK INTO YOUR EYES,
THERE'S NO MEMORY
STARING BACK AT ME.
Copyright © Melvin Johnson | Year Posted 2025
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Melvin Johnson Poem
Standing there as a child,
face-to-face with myself as an elderly man
at the end of the road,
I looked into the eyes of my younger self
and remembered what it was like
when the road had yet to be traveled.
I began reminiscing,
wondering what that long, dark road held
that eventually built a statue of hate
inside my heart.
There was no love left.
My heart had grown cold.
I stood beaten down,
gray hair covering my head,
wrinkles displaying every year across my face.
My clothes were torn and drenched in sweat
from the countless miles
I had traveled.
My younger self looked at me
with tears filling his eyes.
"This can't be me," he whispered.
"I have my whole life planned out.
I made a list of everything
I'm going to become.
"But looking at you
gives me a completely different view.
"What happened to you?
How did you end up looking so broken?
I'm confused."
The older me lowered his head.
"I remember the plans you made for us.
"Life started out sweet and beautiful.
You had dreams, ambition,
and a future you thought you understood.
"But when you left for college,
the road began to change.
"The parties and distractions
became the first bumps I remember.
What began as the excitement of college life
slowly became a dilemma.
"Your education slipped away
until eventually
you dropped out
and found yourself doing nothing.
"Life took another turn
when you moved back home,
carrying the embarrassment
of feeling like you had failed.
"You felt alone.
"Your parents didn't understand
what was happening inside your mind.
Their words felt more degrading
than comforting
while hopelessness kept you planted
in the same place.
"Eventually, they had enough.
"The message was simple:
"You had to leave the comfort
of your safety net
and step back into reality.
"That was when the real road began.
"It was hard.
It was unforgiving.
And every mile seemed longer
than the one before it.
"I searched for anything
that could make me feel untouchable,
anything that could silence
the pressure inside my mind.
"Life became a seesaw—
one moment I was up,
the next I was crashing down.
"Reality became distorted.
Paranoia followed my footsteps,
but time refused to stop for me.
"I eventually reached a point
where I knew something had to change.
"So I kept traveling.
"Mile after mile.
Year after year.
"Until one day,
the road brought me here."
The young boy stared at the old man
standing before him.
Then he quietly asked,
"Where did you come from?"
The elderly man looked beyond him,
toward the beginning of the road
he had spent a lifetime traveling.
A tear rolled down his weathered face.
"I came from where you're going,"
he said.
"But now I'm heading back
to where it all began—
not to change who you are,
but to teach you about the pain
before you have to learn it
the way I did."
And for the first time,
the young boy understood:
The old man wasn't standing
at the end of the road.
He had traveled all the way back
to the beginning.
Copyright © Melvin Johnson | Year Posted 2026
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Melvin Johnson Poem
At the first sign of the morning light
I hear the thunder roar!
It woke me from my sleep as the bed grappled my body
Not to be scared, I laid there motionless
The lighting flashes through the window
I closed my eyes while I was listening
Waiting for that moment to come - then all of a sudden
Ka Boom!!!
Oh, what a sound!!!! It drops your heart to the floor
While you are so scared, but be wanting to hear that sound some more.
Copyright © Melvin Johnson | Year Posted 2025
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Melvin Johnson Poem
Spring and summer, those seasons went by.
The best thing in the world always falls from the sky.
No matter the situation, the love was theirs.
The price was no luxury for the poor boys and girls.
To sit up and prosper with such delight,
It grew up so fast, like a thief in the night.
Many more came from just that one person;
The first one that came made things a little worse.
Then things got better to the lucky number six,
Because the best number of all was three from the mix.
It grew up so beautifully with no time to wonder,
Intertwined with the opposite, then here came November.
With no time to spare, the poor thing grew,
Then out of the blue, one became two.
Wasted no time at all; it just happened to be
The best part about it came, happy number three.
To move out of the way and stay the course,
It was time to add one more, and that soon made four.
The number was up, and everything was complete,
And that was how it started, my Great Family Tree!
Copyright © Melvin Johnson | Year Posted 2025
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Melvin Johnson Poem
You will succeed in whatever you choose to do.
The light will shine on the road ahead of you.
Don't stop walking because the path is hard.
Rely on your faith, and it will take you far.
So take the high road and don't look back.
Keep pushing to the degree where achievement is at.
Don't settle for nothing less than what you deserve.
Keep striving forward, shake the minds of the people who are trying to stop your world.
Life will be full of shade coming from jealous people.
Continue planting your feet on all the deceitful.
Nothing will stop your chapter from closing too soon.
Your book is just the beginning and will be on display in every room.
Copyright © Melvin Johnson | Year Posted 2025
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Melvin Johnson Poem
A flower can bloom just like your life.
You just open up and make the sacrifice.
Don't ever feel like you want to quit,
Because in life, you will start to reminisce.
Always be patient; let your life start to revolve.
Never settle for the unknown; always stay involved.
Be quick to listen, not quick to anger.
Don't go down that road if you sense the danger.
Let your life hover, and let it gravitate.
Take a step to the ground and start to meditate.
Get familiar with yourself and love who you are,
Because that blooming flower in your life will take you so far.
Be proud of yourself and let your light shine.
Remember, the world is yours, but it's only a matter of time.
Copyright © Melvin Johnson | Year Posted 2025
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Melvin Johnson Poem
As the world tends to go around,
I look up at the sky from the ground.
Can't shake this feeling of how blue it can be,
So I ask myself, why has God chosen me?
Don't get me wrong; it's a beautiful thing
To be chosen by the Creator like an angel with wings.
Then, out of the light comes the darkness—
People killing each other and families remorsing.
Loved ones are being taken away too soon.
They're lying on the floor in the back bedroom.
Their last words were for help, but no one was there.
As we come through the door and begin to stare.
The person was gone; CPR didn't help.
Why am I chosen to be the angel of death?
Sad situation for us that won't ever change.
We just adjust our lives and deal with the pain.
If we ask for help, it wouldn't even matter.
So we bury the emotions to become a closed chapter.
Copyright © Melvin Johnson | Year Posted 2025
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Melvin Johnson Poem
The new becomes old, and no one notices.
When the old was new, there was a motive
To plan ahead and take liberation back
When blacks were mistreated and under attack.
Before then, we were royalty with a mighty purpose,
Before being enslaved by the ones who convinced us we were worthless.
We were transformed from riches, and they took our land away,
Only to be brought to America on ships and made slaves.
Now the time has come to set things astray;
It's time to elevate our minds from a sleepless state.
No more being controlled and put in shackles.
My Black race, let's take over and show them we matter.
We will have the courage to fight every demon;
With God on our side, they're going to pay for every beating.
So let's not sit back and be afraid anymore.
Heaven is unlocked, and "My God" is walking through the door.
To save His people, His most precious jewel,
With our spirit reborn into a diamond of renewal.
The time has come to just say goodbye
Because this Caucasian race will fall on its side!
Copyright © Melvin Johnson | Year Posted 2025
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Melvin Johnson Poem
How can we conceal the idea of being a powerful race
When the identity of our ancestors is right in our face?
We need to look in the mirror and see who we are;
The reflection that stares back shouldn't leave you scared.
It should open your consciousness and energize your mind
To a point of gravitation with endless time.
To teach our young generation to have knowledge, not fear,
To not be bound by the shackles for another thousand years.
Let's deliver the message that we have enclosed;
Let's stop having these meetings behind closed doors.
Let's get out and be seen, send a powerful message;
Let's teach the word to give hope and blessings.
So don't sit back and listen with a stone foot in place,
Let's unite in unity to stare back face to face.
Copyright © Melvin Johnson | Year Posted 2025
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Melvin Johnson Poem
Wondering worlds look back and validate the earth's self-esteem,
visually realizing that people are traumatized, wondering what happened to their dreams.
Because their minds, which account for lost time, and people who are sitting around, trying to make a sound,
perplexing to an idea while wondering if the earth is flat or round.
Thinking that the frequency is going to stand still,
but it vibrates your body and formulates your mind with a visual sex appeal.
But we continue to create and lose faith because common sense is becoming too eminent,
where everybody wants money, looking to lust, and it's not making any sense.
So we give the world back its power and then lose an hour that becomes the darkness in your mind,
causing the sun not to shine while you're stuck in a box with lost time.
Copyright © Melvin Johnson | Year Posted 2025
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