You barter your life away
give me this I’ll give you that
and every exchange,
Is another page, another day
fighting into the tide
fighting to live you that life.
Facing into the eyes
of a girl behind her lies
and I realize
that the only democracy
is the currency of the street
and the rhythm of hypocrisy
that runs through, discreet
and unseen, because now its
a nation of cowards
a nation invisible under
indivisible under one God.
Stripping the streets
like a pack of vultures
rocking to the violent beats
the hidden hurting cultures
behind fronts and brave words
and firing at each other with slave words
And cracker-kind standing up for
the red, and white,
the red and white
red and white and blue.
And they look a me kinder,
like I’m one of you
and I stand behind bars.
Next to a man who says Cracker
and I say, I’m nobody’s master.
Written after rehab, and when I was spending a lot of time feeling very different from everyone around me. Being the only white, and definitely the only white gay kid in my neighborhood was pretty rough at times.