I ain’t grinning
ancestors wore the masks so we wouldn’t have to
I could hustle but I’m no hustler
Wannabe farmer
Trapped dreamer country muppet mouse
Locked blocked in by concrete
Barely keeping pace in this rat race
its not designed for me
I have to leave too much
behind to win
the masks don’t fit me and I’m all out of grins
Frustration upon frustration
Every move with you feels like stagnation
in this great nation
our babies are born into the crosshairs
For breathing and simply being
anyone of the many shades of we
Even after death
characters endure assassination
names images always under attack
putty, fotter, objects in arguments for
talking boxes, racist threads, smug pundits, and
viral video after viral video of
self hating, shucking, and jiving talking heads
betraying me portraying we as the enemy
for a crust of master’s bread
a few dollars and a pat on the back for the lies they spread
they enjoy wearing a mask that sets them apart
they are lost in the grinning and the lying
a growing satisfaction with crumbs
and hopes of a seat at the table
warms their hearts
you’ll go far if you aren’t like them niggas over there
Uncle Tom, Clarence Thomas, Don Lemon
affirmations pierce the conscious of each generation
You fear the boogie man
And before you knew me
You were taught I am he
Who lurks in the dark
Standing on corners
Natural born thugs
Big black buck
Too be worshiped feared and adored
cheered in stadiums convicted in court
But rarely the first employed
Always suspect
My prospect
The latest in the long line
Of suspicious ones
Tall dark handsome
Mischievous one
Big hearted lost one
grasping for self in
pimping always sexing rarely loving
Cause that’s what’s force fed to me
hyper masculinity just another costume
new age mask
But I ain’t grinning
teeth grinding
Even in my sleep
Cause my T’s too high to weep
ancestors wore the masks so we wouldn’t have to
I could hustle but I’m no hustler
Wannabe farmer
Trapped dreamer country muppet mouse
Locked blocked in by concrete
Barely keeping pace in this rat race
its not designed for me
I have to leave too much
behind to win
I tried but your masks they don’t fit me