- Briana Minor
Does a Caged Bird Sing?
A bird will pluck it owns wings
Due to the annoyance of the constant motion
Uncomfortable by its own maturity
The world could recognize the birds beauty
Yet too ignorant to discern self destruction.
Not realizing flying is the only way this bird will survive
Black boy cried another nigga today
saw his brother slain like Kain
Now he is a menace to society
Once believed he could be a momentous inspiration
Conversation changed after names begin to fade
And he found himself shooting free throws with ghost
Childhood friends now phantom
Couldn’t fathom that pain
But in the respect of their name he gone do the same
Traded in his cleats for a heat
Heart filled with malice He got his pallet and begin to paint his city streets red
Pablo Picasso a human carrion right there on the concrete
Leaving the man in blue every outline for them to trace.
Willie Lynch Letter be the blueprint
Now left to hang in their own depression
Kalief Broder
We blame the system
yet dismiss absent fathers
A mother could never teach a man how to be masculine
So she scream profanity
Tell that nigga he better not cry
Teach him how to respect his authority
Black mama really just afraid of raising a black son
The same fear my ancestors lived in.
Massa’ just got a badge now
Call himself president
Does a caged bird sing?
A melancholy melody
Songs full of sorrow
To be unjust and naive hum the perfect harmony
Percussion played by the privileged
Black youth
Obtuse to truth
So they dance to the beat
Knobbing their heads to their own dishonor.
Life expectancy
He won’t make it pass twenty five
I give em eighteen
Entity eliminated
We can count on his brother
Or his oppresser
Yet the world still expects man to have hope
Still stand while they place hand across chest and sing about a country that has no regard of his existence
Shackles moved from feet to mind
Physiological locks
Hummingbirds hunted
These volchers want to silence our hymn
Him
I
Can’t
Breathe.