Daddy Issues

Oh how I've waited 

Every night as a little girl
I crawled up in a corner
with my head in my knees
and my heart in my stomach 

I held the phone in my hand for hours
expecting to hear from you 

Oh how I've waited

I've waited by the window
watching every plane fly by

I was young  and naive but watching
fathers and their little girls made me cry

And Every night I thought maybe he's in that one

So I waited by the door 

Falling asleep,

never faltering in my faith 
that you would come to see me 

Oh How I've waited 

I waited for messages:

Emails

                Voicemails

                                 And Letters 

I wanted to tell you that I love you
or maybe I wanted to hear it 

And then one day

I stopped waiting 

I didn't wait near the phone,
I didn't look at airplanes,

I stopped waiting for your letters,

I stopped waiting for you...

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My City is Silent Tonight

Today my city weeps for the young man
who was stabbed on the thirteenth floor of my project tenement
making his way down twelve flights of stairs
leaving blood drops of dreams

Every flight was prayer:

For his family
for his wife and kids
for all the victims that ever lived

My City

 is silent tonight
mourning the loss of another Black man

who had so much to live for

My city is never silent

but tonight there is no

heart beat

Another Hispanic man died tonight
and two more will die by the end of this week

Tonight my city sleeps

my city weeps
as another father is lost to another violent night…

My city is silent tonight.

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