Black History Month

I’m a black man in America, I served, and like many I have to carry the weight of 400 + years of oppression. I have no problem with anyone outside of my race but history was never kind to my four fathers. I accept that and I try to better myself everyday. Yes, it hurts knowing that your pain and genealogy was cursed at an early age and some drowned at the bottom of the ocean. Yes, it hurts when you have to look into the eyes of a dark woman and see her and her babies jumping overboard in the history books. I turn to education to heal the pain of knowing that the state of a certain kind— black, was cheated. To look at the little black faces in the streets of the world hanging on to little ghetto dreams. I wish I could save the world. I really do. Please respect my writing, I’m far from racist but in honor of those who remember and understand that some things from the past cannot be undone. If I were to die tomorrow, I would have no regrets, but I would leave a letter for the world to read and a picture of a man and woman stripped of all of the world’s glory, beat, raped, chained, hung and lynched. I wish I could save the world, I truly love all of God’s creation. I pray that we will progress, and try not to be bitter, yet try to be a better people. I do believe that God hears us all, yet somethings should never be forgotten. I often have this vision of a child pointing to the bright sun, saying “Look it’s a ball of light and it rises everyday. How great is that.” Peace be with you all. I hope everyone took the time this year to look back and reflect, your itch is there for a reason, scratch it. Much love.

For what it’s worth

I often wish that everyone could feel at ease about life. We’ve all had some good days and bad days. As a child, I prayed for peace every night. Growing up in unusual and at times harsh conditions I often had to comfort myself. I’m just a small portion of reality but I’ve gained and lost some too. I believe in angels, I take delight in such a thought, such a belief. We all lose, and death comes like a thief in the night at times, but the spirit lives on. If I’m smiling, please keep me encouraged, I wish no harm to you, please wish no harm to me. At the end of the day I just want to please the bill collector and have peace amongst the brethren. My common sense may offend the average thinker and at times I never feel like I’m good enough but I’m human. I’ve watched relative after relative lose to the common cold, it’s life, and tears fall in the wake of death, but I’m enjoying life now, I’m thankful and hopeful that the lord will bless us all with more life. Hearing the screams of chaos gripping my mother’s throat as a child has really sunken deep into my psyche but I’m good now. Time has healed the pain. All I really ever wanted to hear as a child was good job and I did at times so no complaints. I enjoy the sunshine, the atmosphere of a good day. A flash of lighting was enough for me to turn a blind eye to the torment of street life so I practice positive thinking. The woes of the past have made me a better person. I read to keep my mind at ease. I write to ease the pain of seeing my comrades on the battlefield still suffering. Sometimes I worry about my own state of mind. I encourage myself to get out of bed in the morning because I know that a man who stands through it all—can make the world stronger. Why torment and say bad things to each other, negativity overwhelms us all at times so take a break, once our time is up, you might see things differently and wish you had that time back. As a child I prayed for peace every night before I went to bed. In the midst of screams, God gave me rest. I’m very sure he can do the same for anyone who ask. For what it’s worth, I’ll put in a gold coin. It’s all I have left, please don’t leave me stranded, I just placed a max bet that things will get better.

The Depression

He went down in the seventh round, the ratings were terrible. If you were a radio-head, you would think that everything was going good, they had their president and they had the majority. The reality on the ground was much different. The way of thinking had changed, there was no patriotic atmosphere, people were mainly just concerned about themselves. I witnessed four robberies in a span of ten hours. Children roaming the streets, parents hidden away in dirty bathrooms shooting up. This is what a crumbling society looked like, and all it took was a stock market crash. At the top of the hour, men were headed to work and then at the bottom of the hour they were being handed a pink slip. In less than a day a place employing over seven hundred workers stood empty. Every channel on television would kill for ratings. Children cell phone bills held parents from maintaining control of the family bills. In the middle of the city, people watched as the homeless crisis took center stage. “How did this happen?” Read a sign on a building... The beacon of human hopes and aspirations were shattered by a new rule of law that eliminated them with artificial intelligence. A man made virus wiped out almost fifty million people. A new study found that seventy percent of the brain was no longer used. This was the new depression, one person picking up a dirty bowl in the middle of  a bottomless pit. The elite had drained the life out of everything. It would take the smile of an angel to save us from this mess. The rainbow is on the other side of the world now was the number one song and everyone was singing it.

Cut & Benched Community Basketball

I hate sports but for some reason I get this itch to play all the time. Being a late bloomer to the sports culture, I’ve never really been excepted on any ball field except track maybe. Realizing that most athletes hate rejection I decided to start my own league. No referees, and the players called their own calls and if no one showed up, no body played and no money spent. One Saturday we got about three teams, there was blood and sweat all over the floor, this was old school basketball with a touch of UFC. Bodies were being dragged off of the court, these were players who were tired of being rejected, this was their NBA. The grand prize was a trophy from my buddy Shawn’s trophy shop, everyone thought that Shawn was a loose cannon from being cut and benched his whole life also. After facing the wrath of concerned parents somehow the league survived. This was the league where everyone was welcomed. This was Cut & Benched Community Basketball.

I’m in Love ❤️ with Work

Where, where, oh where do I go?
I go to work.
How, how, oh how do I get the troubles of the world off of my mind?
Work.
Sweat, endurance, oh how much longer can I last?
Shut up...
Work must be done,
Now let’s get it done.
No time for chatter.
I can feel the aching of overtime trickling down my spine.
Wait, here comes a second wind...
Love comes and goes but the love of work must never end.
I’m in love with work...it makes things happen.
P.S.
Payday will be here in no time, then I’ll do it all over again the next day.
I’m in love with work.
Will you be mine.❤️
Love, Johnny Workman.

The great musician named Pete.

Poor is a good word because it’s a lower form of reality. Everything is good when you’re poor. Rich is also a good word because it is a form of being in high demand. Poor people often don’t have a lot of friends, it’s an amazing display of poetry to see what’s on a poor man’s mind. Simple things, most of the time. Pete was a poor man, he was a musician that played with a broken guitar. Some how some way he found a way to play great music with this guitar. He played everywhere, on the ship, on the beach, at the hospitals and many other places as well. I decided to give Pete a new guitar and even introduced him to some band members. He looked at me, walked out and died shortly after.
The End.

The Eyes have Ears

It took two seconds, then it turned into an hour. I watched and I lost out on training my eyes to master something better. Instead of being in the game, I was watching the game; instead of practicing, I was watching TV. Oh, that’s why I have eyes, I have eyes so I can see. Oh, that’s why I have ears, I have ears so I can hear. When one is lost the other becomes stronger. I must use each wisely. They feed my brain with pictures of how I perceive the world. Today I’ll read a book, today I’ll learn the rules. I hear people saying good things about me. I must be doing something right. I see success, I hear positive things, but wait, there’s more: I’ve become an icon. People are watching me.
The Eyes have Ears

Sirens

Sirens, I hear them all the time. I run to the window to see what’s going on. They’re getting louder and closer. Woe, they’re in my driveway, I jump out of bed. Someone dear to me is in danger, their body is flat out cold in the driveway. Tragedy has struck me at the very moment I assumed everything was going good. I was just about to rest. The saga never ends. I watch another loved one being carried away, a small part of me dies but I must carry on. That may be me someday but I force myself  to be optimistic. I don’t have much to lose, I have nothing left but a paint brush. Today I’ll draw the sky.

The Track

I heard a song one day by a man named Grey, he hit note after note and was followed by a singer named Fey. There was something real special about this song, it had the power to make everyone join hands and sing along.
When I grew up, I searched hard for this track, only to find out the that the song got hacked. The artist who wrote it never made it to the big scene, he was robbed of his lyrics and the big dream. The real song ended at a minute and twenty-nine and gave me enough strength to press rewind. When I heard the rip-off, I soon hit the mic and cast so many spells, that I created new hype. Minds were lifted from hell, people were so inspired, the track kept them from jail. Positive energy flowed through my vocals, I even uplifted the locals. My track hit the top and I was enemy number one, but I vowed to not stop til my work was done. I found the man’s family who wrote the track, left them a thank you note and gave everything back. They looked at me and said thanks for sharing your story, now help us take down the hack who stole our dad’s glory. When we found them, they were strung out on crack, it turns out that the only hope they had was Grey’s track. This is a message that one track created, a story of joy that never went outdated.
It was a hit, well known to be sampled and sung by two singers who hated to gamble. It went from one voice to another, from state to state, it had words that made everyone feel great. It created good vibes, nothing that made you hateful or want to rebel. There was something special about this track that inspired me to create. This was good music, this track was great.