Latest Poems
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Recent Selections
Anthem (For My People)
in the poems for your legacy,
my pen
in the vigil for your memory,
my flame
in the shouts for your justice,
my throat
in the marches for your name,
my feet
in the cries for your mother,
my tears
in the lifting of your fathers,
my back
in the battles for your children,
my fists
in the war for your freedom,
my blood.
© 2017 Marcus Harris
Mountains
you
yielded to my persuasions,
I
surrendered to your strength,
and
together we
stormed roads,
stretched time,
stalled the lingering twilight...
we
took all the
silken lies,
muted cries,
wings broken, then mended
and
forged a rainbow
of
conquered challenges,
enlightening the
Earth...
but
we've
mountains
yet to climb,
dawns
yet to discover,
waiting for us in
a nascent horizon,
where
a fragile, potent dream
yearns to
rise...
© 2017 Marcus Harris
New Chattel
(Minimum Wage Slaves)
humans
not property,
objects laboring beyond value,
rights bartered for profits
yields
profits for bartered rights,
value beyond laboring objects,
property
not humans
© 2016 Marcus Harris
From #snapshot
Pipeline
the empty stomachs,
the sleep-deprived eyes,
the attention spans drop,
the truancies rise,
the 30 bodies,
the 25 desks,
the furloughed engineer
needs a steady paycheck,
the wheelchairs, the helmets,
the learning disorders,
the cuts, the layoffs,
the treading shallow water,
the pens, the pencils,
the paper donated,
the broken chalk,
textbooks from 1980,
the underfunded schools,
the low performing students,
the funds and scores up
when low performers booted,
the lunchroom patrols, the badges,
the nightsticks,
the classroom trials,
the hallway convictions,
the 3 white officers,
the 1 black scream,
the chokeholds, the tackles,
the record at 13,
the whites with shotguns,
the blacks with nail clippers,
the zero tolerance policies,
the black suspensions triple,
the alternative warehouses,
the homebound vacations,
the "post-racial" paths,
the Jim Crow destination,
the slangin', the grind,
the bangin', the 9
the parties, the panties,
the promise left behind,
the felonies, the warrants,
the 2nd class citizens,
the 25-to-life,
the swoll belly visitin',
the strollers, the preschools,
the first bus rides,
the empty stomachs,
the sleep-deprived eyes...
© 2017 Marcus Harris
Surviving Adolescence
Modern Guide
To Surviving Adolescence
(American Edition):
leave toy guns at home before playing
at park,
turn down music at gas station while sitting
in car,
decline invitations to private parties
at public pools,
remove hoodies when crossing
neighborhoods,
when fleeing police, do it
in reverse,
when accosted by police, consent to
illegal search,
arrive at 19,
await further instruction.
© 2017 Marcus Harris
The Bully Cure
emotions knotted up deep inside,
to mask their turmoil, they make you cry,
no one lends helping hands
so we must take a stand
to help heal the hurt behind their eyes.
© 2017 Marcus & Hannah Harris