- children of yesteryear -
by thesewordsiwrite2012
Here in the killing season,
youth are a crying shame.
It’s gunplay without reason,
here in the dying game.
And as their clothes turn stainless,
at least they’re finally painless.
For all this heinous treason…
which faction do you blame?
I’d love to save…
all my tears…
for every child of…
yesteryear.
Still, there’s a knot…
in my voice…
when ”soldiers” fire on…
the wrong choice.
Here in the slaughter days,
laughter is seldom strong.
If rebels changed their ways,
smiles would be prolonged.
When innocence is shot down,
a mother’s screams pierce too loud.
Even for a pair of J’s…
such a pitiful song.
I’d love to save…
all my tears…
for every child of…
yesteryear.
Still, my heart weeps…
for colored boys…
looking to play with…
all the wrong toys.
D.J. Whisenant
Very strong words my friend, and very well written. heart felt.
Thank you sir!
so powerful!
I relate very well here as I taught mostly black teens in my 33 years as high school teacher here in Miami, Florida. So much pain and far too many funerals. In 2010 City of Miami police gunned down 7 young black men in separate incidences under very questionable circumstances. Only one has been resolved where the cop was merely fired and the other six remain under “internal investigation” and outside public scrutiny- blocked. When white kids get shot up in Connecticut it is a national tragedy but here in Miami the drive-bys in the black communities are so frequent they seldom make the 6 o’clock news let alone the newspapers. I especially resent that because my grandchildren are black/white mix and my anxiety over their safety is ever present in my thoughts. Your poem captures the agony. Far too many of our black youth put stature self image in thuggery and “all the wrong toys”. At the start of the read one would think the reference is to war torn areas of the world but as you indicate the war zones are right here in American cities. Thanks visit my blog.
WOW… I cannot even begin to fathom that kind of anxiety. Thank you for your response.
Powerfully written poem. You deserve a wider audience than your blog. Good luck on making that dream a reality.
Thank you so much!
Thanks for letting me camp out in your blog for a little while today. I had a great time and tried to leave my campsite as good as when I arrived. I’ll be back in a couple of weeks!