// “When Walking Away” by Jay Johnson//

I wish I could move mountains
But sometimes it’s hard to muster up the faith

I want to sew seeds in the sinews of her valley
But we’re afraid to test her arability
Despite my middle name being Leland

Some nights I lay awake and think every thought
Until my mind is too drained to remember sleeping

It’s 2:40 AM as I’m typing this
It reminds me of how I want to be engaged at 24

And be made whole yet forever empty
Needing someone else’s existence to make
My own mean something like that zero

But that thought is fleeting
As reality kicks in at 2:41

I’ve been accused of cheating three times
I was found guilty on all counts
One of which, death broke up with me the next day

I know she’ll come back this way again
Though my invitations continue to be forwarded

I haven’t found peace in a poem for months
I’ve left signs to the contracted road workers

You’re on my computer screen
The wallpaper and Skype call

I wonder if I’m running through your head
Trying to cross the same plateau between us

// “Stand Your Ground”//

*italicized text has multiple voices

JOSH:   There are those who say
Hoodie, skittles, and iced tea have become cliche
But if cliche saves lives
Then let me be “I Have A Dream”, the Black Power Fist, and the afro pick all in one
Because the future is uncertain
And those assertin that we should let this go
Consider this
2 months ago it was Trayvon Martin
2 years ago it was Oscar Grant
5 years ago it was Sean Bell
20 years ago it was Latasha Harlins
The names go on
Amadou Diallo, Medgar Evers, Emmett Till
But still
We seem to forget
Only for brief moments our conscience is stirred
But we gotta keep these names on repeat until justice is served
Your words, your actions, your intentions make a difference
Don’t drown yourself in ignorance and become one of these names
Rise out of the pool of stagnation and act as an agent of change

AL:   The dust has just begun to settle
when my hopes seem dashed
that Martin’s death
would be swept away
like a gram of dust
Then I see it on the headlines
Zimmerman Arrested
Finally!!!
You should know
I’m not one for patient justice
The sound of the clock going on
as days turned into weeks
and Martin’s chances for justice began to decay
along with his body
The clock’s constant tick
became a parasite
sapping the energy from my bones
and with it my hope that this great nation
could keep together the allegiance we have pledged to one another
“Justice for all”
And if the tick wasn’t bad
What’s worse is the talk
the incessant chatter over what this means
How anyone who seems right is really racist
and everyone left has an agenda of their own
where the shooting of a child
became a game of who could score the most ideological points
and while I appreciate some real discussion
Can we get to the point
where the population embraces the shade
No, not the shade they cast over their eyes
as they gleefully accept those little white lies
but the shades of red, yellow, brown, and black
Adopting a new mentality
rewriting these faulty perceptions
and finally accepting your fellow man
God knows I can’t wait for that.

MATT:   Those who are supposed to protect and serve
AL:   Serve no purpose but to make me nervous
OLA:   About being who I am
But damn there’s just got to be a better way
JOSH:   People say if you believe in this corrupt system
You must be naive
But I’mma keep sippin that similac of hope
And try not to choke on that dope of deception
MATT:   Murder with no basis
AL:   Protected by a law with no order
The borders of civility have been crossed
OLA:   And equality tossed by the wayside
MATT:   Too much pride to admit the prejudice
AL:   That’s why I’m celibate to the ways of the world
JOSH:   So I don’t get fucked by society

MATT:   “This land is your land, this land is my land”
We sing songs of tolerance in childhood
But when we grow up, you better get the fuck out of my neighborhood
You don’t belong here has become a way of life
It’s that don’t bother standing in line
You must be at least this white to get on the ride, alright? Idea
That’s the modus operandi America was built on
The reason centuries of black men’s blood had already soaked the earth Zimmerman stood his ground on
That never belonged to him in the first place
Disgrace doesn’t do it justice
And I worry “justice” won’t do it either
I’m angry, and I’m tired
Because it’s things like George Zimmerman that give humanity a bad reputation
That proliferate the notion that covert racism is the norm
and around every corner is the specter of hatred
If some nutcase self-righteous Dirty Harry wannabe
Gets shielded by an archaic amendment meant for militiamen and a bullshit state law
Then I’ll believe it
But for now I’m an optimist
Full of anesthetic hope that George and others like him will not go straight to hell
But will have plenty of time to think about what they’ve done
Lying sore on the floor of their jail cell
And that one day underneath the bandages which society has placed
The wounds will heal, and the ugly scar tissue will fade.

OLA:   I learned back in the 5th grade that this Civil Rights movement ended a while ago
Yet today we’re here debating the unthinkable
Dr. King, Malcolm X, and ______ dreamers of change
Show some respect
Their efforts paved the way for me to be here today
and I thought that was enough to enable me
to say
that I shouldn’t be judged by the color of my skin
Nevermind, the content of your character, the lack of such doesn’t allow me to be seen as a human being
In America, we believe it to be true that all men are created equal
but obviously not, because I live in a country, where personal belief is taken over human life
strife can’t be avoided if we continue to think my well-being is worth less than what this nation taught you it was
And here I stand, I could have been another one killed, more spilled blood on streets in my neighborhood.
but with no publicity
I could have been another one taken off of this Earth all too soon
and the world would have just continued on, no response
But now is the time to take a stand
Stand Your Ground
For justice
Stand Your Ground
For equal protection under the law
Stand Your Ground
For respect of your fellow man
Stand Your Ground
For change
It’s up to us
To Protect the Future

In Memory of Trayvon Martin and all others whose voices were lost to senseless violence…

// “Culture of Honor” by Justin Barisich//

In the backwaters of Louisiana bayous
Bodies remain buried beneath the brackish waters
That have blended with the blood of forgotten brothers.
 
Men who were born on the water
Get returned to the womb,
Being bathed again in the tides
That pull them back down
And drown them below the sound.
 
Accents and mindsets well-versed in the Cajun way
Avoid the step and sway of the coast’s guards,
Slyly smiling as they shorten the long arm of the law.
 
Men with forearms the size of thighs and
Protruding pot-bellies even bigger than
Their fat-tire egos inflated with testosterone
Boast back and forth
With threats that are moving too quickly
To still be considered as idle.
 
Eyes are not enough for eyes
And teeth are no longer enough for teeth.
 
A piecemeal understanding of chivalry
Has molded this culture of honor pervasive
And it’s no use to be persuasive,
Cuz the knife’s already been sharpened,
And it’s ‘bout to be invasive.
 
Touch my mother,
And your face will meet my bat.
Insult my father,
And I’ll blow your lungs flat.
Look at my sister,
And your eyes will forever remain closed.
Scrap with my brother,
And I’ll leave your body to decompose.
Dare disgrace my family name,
And yours won’t be living on through you.
 
Because there are still parts of the gulf sea
That no map-makers have ever seen
Where murder can still be committed
And remain quick, easy, and clean
 
Where bodies can be brought
And left to be forgotten
Sinking into the mud and growing rotten
As fertilizer for the marsh-grasses
On the verge of extinction.
 
For this is where the circle of life comes to be recycled.
The conservation of energy at the expense of men.