Black Poetry : Ode to Our Progeny: A Bishop and Nia Maishani Collaboration

[Nia Maishani]

I hear your voices ringing out
though your lips have not parted
the echoing of your cries
resonating into a void
that is your Keeper

with consciousness paralyzed
from a fall into apathy
a nation
a community
a family
an individual
turns a deaf ear
a blind eye
forsaking morality and courage

as your innocence meets annihilation
your fate is matched
with that of your siblings
and you join their struggle
though not yet as their ally

abandonment
victimization
and fresh tears
which hydrate the old
form your familiar pool of playmates

 

[Bishop]

Your voices ring
through the night
once objects
of affection and love
you've become victims
of society perverted

those who were once
stewards
have become abusers
yet the voices ring
I love you
even in the midst
of hatred
and neglect
your love is unfailing

reminds me of one
who came before
tortured and beaten
no fault of his own
sentenced to die
yet proving his love
with the words
Forgive them
for they know not what they do

no sanctuary to be found
for places of refuge
have become
preying grounds
replacing playgrounds
taken away
in the night
vapor of life
gone
yet your voices continue to ring

the voices of our children.

 

[baller]

THANK YOU

let the river flow

 

[Nia Maishani]

At now a wail
and then a scream
your voices seem to multiply
beseeching aid
that may not arrive
whilst helplessness and betrayal simmer

Dare I allow this
the miracle that is you
to become a tool
of the predator
an experiment
of the mad scientist
a perceived burden
of the incompetent parent?

Dare I acquiesce
your dismissal
as disposable refuse?

Adjudicated guilty
for the crime of youthdom
you suffer a crucificial fate
but lo it is written
the time shall come
when you find shelter
through pearly gates

Yet in the meantime
if it is my duty
in fact
the cost of my stay here
to simply "give back"
to bequeathe you this world
in a better shape
than that in which I found it
to pass you a torch of lesser weight
and neither tarry nor flounder
then I must act
with alacrity and tact
lest I share the blame
when adversaries strike a-gain

 

[Gaylee]

Beautifully said Poets, in triplicate! So much thought in these pieces and love.