Unchained, by Amory McKeever

What you're calling black pride

is just low self esteem

making every excuse

for not living the dream 

So if you're keeping it real

keep your daughter on the pill

'cause the boys in the hood

are looking for thrills

That's the best you can do

when you steal from everyone

until your own son lies dead in a field

shot by your own gun

and the only ones who know how he got it

are you and the hall closet

where you kept it tucked in a black sock

but he found it and now he's in the ground

and now you can't hold him

poor boy just did what you showed him

and learned how to hustle 

The streets only respect muscle

So he was boosting cars at sixteen

never knowing he'd be the one getting lifted

truly sad too the young man was gifted

He was better than the rest

knew every little trick

he learned from the best

I hope that makes you sick

every morning when you wake up you prick

You got one chance to be a good father

you lost a son don't lose your daughter

spend everyday playing doctor

teach her to grow up proper 

or you can take your shirt off

n' spin it round yo head like a helicopter 

She'll end up passed out on a couch

next to a bottle of Cristal

with a needle in her arm

and her brains pouring out

knees bent to anyone who can pay the rent

or give her another fix

of the shit she spent her last dime on

Now it's time for a toe tag and a song

about a father who buries his daughter

and buries his son

and everything they might have become

held down by the ghetto, guns, knives, and pimps

What kind of life is that for your kids

Sit at the table with Martin Luther King

he'll tell you that ghetto is short for get out

and don't put all the gold you own in your mouth

don't wander around looking for help

the promised land is there for children
if only you would help yourself

The democrats are not your savior

Your body may not be in chains

but they still want your brains

like a zombie apocalypse strain
to keep you line marching

all the way to the polls

to vote against your conscience
so they never lose control

Dilapidated, by Amory McKeever

She sat down at the easel
with a brush of imagination
Turned out a grand cathedral
the inheritance for her enation
If love was a magnum opus
given away without restraint
with patience and understanding
she would be the patron saint

Well, since this wasn't our canvas
it could never be our masterpiece
Couldn't stand what we were handed
that slowly drove us into madness
Then like such a little hellion
we took all of her paint
and in a moment of rebellion
turned those colors into pain

A splash of yellow here and there
green and blue with orange medallions
such happy snow capped mountains
explored by daft rapscallions
who never seem impressed
so we took all of her paint
and in a moment of protest
turned those colors into pain

We couldn't cover it in black
though we've tried a million years
So we go on the attack
and prove the truth of all our fears
Then during that haunted lunacy
we took all of her paint
and in a moment of mutiny
turned those colors into pain

There was no lack of splendor
on this work of alla prima
It just needed a defender
not some small conceited divas
with the most selfish of reasons
we took all of her paint
and in a moment of treason
turned those colors into pain

She sat down at the easel
to see what became of her foundation
That church burned down in the upheaval
the squandered estate of her creations
If forgiveness was a magnum opus
given away without complaint
with patience and understanding
she would be the patron saint

*image/painting by Yuumei*

Promise Lost, by Amory McKeever

Where is the country to which we pledged our honor
Where are the husbands we had hoped for our daughters
In this kleptocracy of white collars

buying votes for a dollar
It seems we've fallen much farther
Instead of knights in shinning armor
Who look out for our farmers

we get snake oil charmers

I pledged my allegence

I redressed my grievance

I swore an oath before God

That no matter how flawed

No matter how busted

This republic can be trusted

Our promise is not yet lost

so long as patriots pay the cost

Where is the future we hoped to build for our babies

Where is the love we had promised to our ladies
Because lately we've just become crazies
Like a pack of dogs full of rabies
Shaming ourselves for the dailies
Our sacred vows became maybes
For better or worse are just sayings

for broken hearts in the making

Where is the war we said would end all wars

So we can tell every mother

their children are safe at home

Not dying on some foreign shore

On behlf of the corporate board

An appeal to heaven dear Lord

Might be all I can afford

I pledged my allegence

I redressed my grievance

I swore an oath before God

That no matter how flawed

No matter how busted

This republic can be trusted

Our promise is not yet lost

so long as patriots pay the cost

Sawdust, by Amory McKeever

(image courtesy of Aida Makoto)

Cut down in our prime
split in twain
discarded like pain
to make something fine

So here we are
in mountainous piles
you can see for miles
carcasses of poplar

A graveyard of timber
the scraps off a table
the skeleton of a maple
going out with a whimper

What becomes of the orchard

miss the forest for the trees

every hunger you apease

ignores your hand in the torture

Plea mercy from the saws
no justice no peace
to know we've been fleeced
we can hear the applause

They took what they could
to craft what they want
like idiot savants
but we're more than just wood

We're living things just like them
they bloom from our work
we're the sun through the murk
there's no flower without a stem

And gathered in their rooms

adorned in decadence

they spared no expense

to ignore their own doom

To forget they were us
that the shine of their polish
is because we're demolished
they shall never discuss

They are merely what's left
when you shave away the damned
the poor and the scammed
their value is a theft

So here we lie
in mountainous piles
you can see for miles
the tree of life left to die

Totally Radd, by Amory McKeever

When the devourer came for his next meal

a common man made him a deal

To save his lover Shalla-Bal

and his planet from it's curtain call

The man would serve the titan well

and act as his own dinner's bell

He'd soar the universe near and far

for planets to eat like caviar

The titan agreed to this arrangement

and took the man as his new agent

The man was given enormous power

the kind that makes green monsters cower

After leading his lord to many planets

filled with energy, even organics

This herald who had proved his worth

stumbled upon a tiny blue Earth

The noble citizens who resided there

reminded the man of the home he spared

So the man rebelled against his king

and stood prepared to lose everything

Fought mightily with cosmic thunder

to keep the Earth from being torn asunder

Some fantastic heroes came to his aid

and soon the ravager became dismayed

After saving the Earth from certain disaster

the man was banished here by his master

Though still one of the most powerful beings

he searches now for deeper meaning

Protecting the galaxy from deadly threats

trying to make up for all his regrets

That human condition seems so familiar

even to an alien covered in silver

The Weighting Game, by Amory McKeever

Spent four long years

living in my locker

hiding away

from a Letterman stalker

The things they said

cut me so deep

It was a miracle

that I didn't bleed

If this is my skin

why does it make me sick

How can I fit in

when it's so damn thick

No club I could join

with other people like me

Forever alone

the biggest fish in the sea

A punchline walking

the focus of their jokes

No matter what I said

it's like I never spoke

If this is my skin

why does it make me sick

How can I fit in

when it's so damn thick

Sadie Hawkins dance

might as well be the moon

No one asked me go

Limos don't have the room

Or that's what they say

just before the laughter

that same old torture

carried on the day after

If this is my skin

why does it make me sick

How can I fit in

when it's so damn thick

Welcome to the future

It's been years since then

I guess I'm stronger now

Than I've ever been

Is it because I survived

or because I got thin

That nothing gets to me

not even love gets in

If this is my skin

why does it make me sick

How can I fit in

when it's so damn thick

Erased, by Amory McKeever

I can't see the lights
and I can't hear the speakers

but I can feel what you said

right down to my sneakers

I am overcome with dread

You say you're leaving me

That love is blind

but just not technically

That love conquers all

except the lack of chemistry

That I have a beautiful soul

but you wish I matched aesthetically

if looks could kill

oh if looks could kill

babe I'd be a ghost

ghosted and still

if looks could kill

now and always I will

be in love with you

The dance floor melts away

and all the people disappear

This is not my jam

but it's the song I always feared

You say it's not me it's you

but mention how I'm just too weird

That I always had your heart

but now suddenly your mind is clear

That I would surely find someone

but it just came out insincere

That you'll always remember me

as if I'm some kind of souvenir

if looks could kill

oh if looks could kill

babe I'd be a ghost

ghosted and still

if looks could kill

now and always I will

be in love with you

Of course you chose a public place

Maybe so I wouldn't make a scene

Even though my broken face

Might as well be a scream

No matter how fast my pace

as I headed for the door

What was seen can't be unseen

my spirit's left on the floor

They could have been kerosene

the way you burned me to the core

Or perhaps it was a guillotine

I lose my head some more

if looks could kill

oh if looks could kill

babe I'd be a ghost

ghosted and still

if looks could kill

now and always I will

be in love with you