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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The Beauty of a Wildflower

Nobody plants a wildflower

Nobody wants one too

Nobody stops to look at the beauty that I see in you

Wildflower who grows under terrible conditions

Stands in the shadows of your omission

You are beautiful

Because you are you

The face of your petals

Carry the weight

Of my world

The strength in your stems support my fall

And your roots hold me through it all

Wildflower you do not belong anywhere

Yet you rise from the dirt below me and thrive

Even when no one is watching

Wildflower you are beautiful

Even when the world is too busy

Looking at roses

Bloom toward the sun

And smile as it shines

Because everyone is beautiful

And this beauty

Your beauty

Is mine 

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