“Yo, what’s your problem?
I ain’t tryin’ to mess with you, dawg!
Oh, you got your hands up now
Think you can beat me down, get me to bow
To you
Man, you crazy…
You don’t know me
I’ll lay you out
I got my own chalk, make it easy for the 5-0 to find your…
Keep talkin’! Say it to my face!
Yeah, that’s right!
Getcha boy ‘cause he know he’s a punk…”
And there it begins
Obscenities and vulgarities to tear down “manly” reputations
Always something to prove
Even if it means an altercation
Even if it means jail
Even if it means a middle finger from one hand and a trigger-happy finger from the other
Even if it means a chaotic showdown
Even if it means death
I mean, what’s life worth besides what is given today?
Each person dies once, then comes the judgment
Somehow, there’s a widespread notion that we’re all angels
Confined to human bodies
Susceptible to corruption
Constricted by the environment until it ends our existence
And we get free passes, return to our Father’s arms
With no viable explanation as to how we deserve rest when our internal affairs cannot account for any struggle to change
Angels are sinless before God on threat of high treason
That’s why we have demons
And in this budding fight, I see their influence
A prick on a person’s pride
Malicious words to incite
A forceful push to ignite
D.C. again entrenched in a war zone
Another Maryland city and street become battle grounds
Spilled blood and dismembered limbs litter Virginia
Claim the spoils like money or an iPod or a bicycle or another handgun
Because no one settles disagreements with their fists anymore
Self-defense is truly the last resort
If there’s ever a group of people everyone should be scared of
It would be the race of the cowards
It’s so predictable it’s almost elementary
Add a layer of violence depending on the situation
Screw the deadly force continuum
Win at all costs
If unarmed street fighting doesn’t do the job, the knife will
If winning is out of reach, yank it back with a gun in tow
All leading to a subtraction of another “angel”
And the demons laughing hysterically into the night…
What’s the aftermath…
A 17-year-old youth, a victim of an ambush
A boy who just turned 15 will not see Thanksgiving
A community leader dressed in police uniform murdered in cold-blood because he interfered with someone getting his drink and his two-step
A 17-year-old girl stomaching betrayal before receiving a final headache
Barely a teenager, one boy possibly trapped in the belly of the beast for the remainder of his natural life
Do we need to explore the collateral damage?
Is it necessary?
Is it not evident in the laws passed?
The judgments made?
The faces pained?
The prisons erected?
Increased funding for education rejected?
What are we doing fighting other battles when we are losing our own?
Is it to ignore the fact that in our innermost parts, we are like everyone else in conflict when parents outlive their children?
So drunk in our image we don’t see what the world sees?
The world stands confused of our disorientation
Baffled of our drowning
And bewildered of the hypocrisy
Is this still the land of opportunity?
Are we desolate?
If so, is it because of arrogance?
Is our self-destruction imminent?
I hope not…
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