I Say
They say that love makes time pass, and
time makes love pass;
I guess that would explain
your timely disappearing acts . . .
They say that people change and
forget to tell each other;
I wonder when exactly
we became unfamiliar lovers . . .
They say that only after something’s gone
do you miss what you had –
I say two out of three
ain’t bad.
(© 2005 Marcus Harris, originally published in Songs In Search Of A Voice)
Heart-Shaped Bruises (The Truth According To Tonya)
you claim you love me –
so your heart must have been tucked
somewhere in your fist . . .
(© 2002 Marcus Harris, originally published in Songs In Search Of A Voice)
Consequences
Every day
it takes 18 years to smoke, vote,
see R-rated flicks,
in 21 we can hit the cut and
take a little sip -
but at 14 we can share cells
with 40-year-old Crips…
and how can it be
at 17 I can lose my life fightin’ countries
that never threaten it
to defend the one I was born in,
which never respects it -
’cause it lets me lose it at 12
at the hands of those sworn to protect it?
And it’s sad how
20 seconds of fun can cost us
20 years of pleadin’
while Wall Street brokers steal life savings
from grandmas who need ’em -
but dirty cops are the baddest crooks,
’cause they can steal your freedom…
how
do you change a rigged game
that’s been designed
to put adult consequences
on juvenile minds?
(© 2017 Marcus Harris, originally published in #snapshot)
Chloe’s Smile
Jabari called it
the sun,
Braxton said it’s like
the moon -
they’re half-right…
Chloe’s smile
is
the glow of the morning star,
delicate,
timeless,
like a diamond…
Chloe’s smile
is
as strong as
the promises the sun streaks
across the sky,
decorating
the dark heavenly canvas
left empty as
the soft waning crescent
fades into
the shadows…
Chloe’s smile
is
not the similes, the metaphors,
it’s
not the parts -
it’s
the whole,
the quiet, powerful poetry of
the dawn.
(© 2017 Marcus Harris, originally published in #snapshot)