That we can reunite in the ether
But neither you nor I were believers
So I won't see you in the light
When all that's left is darkness
It's hard to keep on doing right
You either are defeated
Or weakened by the fight
My achievements may be meager
But I reached them when I tried
And it seems to be a feat
Just to be the one alive
With my freedom
Not deceased
Or doing time
Waiting for release dates
Being waked
Or cremated
I can't conceive how I'm survived
You see it in my features
With crows feet beside my eyes
The creases getting deeper
The Grim Reaper's drawing lines
These teens will keep repeating
What they've seen unless
We teach them not to die
But I can't reach them
Even though I've seen
The horrifying hardship
That is life
You can call me crazy
But I know more people
Incarcerated
Than live the college life
So you cannot debate me
While I walk through graveyards
Like a high school hallway
I hear them softly
Call my name
Telling me to stay here
Turn them into martyrs
So it all was not in vain
We all too often are forgotten
By the progress being made
All of the hypocrisy
When our problems
Aren't acknowledged
Largely because of our race
As if the color of my skin
Will admonish me of pain
I wonder where's my privilege
While drop outs hang in the park
And the cops are in my face
When kids were robbing
Banks and pharmacies
Oxycontin was a plague
It never made the news
Never on the front page
So I made a promise
That I wouldn't just walk away
I'd harness what I harbor
In my heart
Be honest with my hate
Pay homage to the fallen
Honor them
By not falling for the bait.
Mark McLaughlin a.k.a MC Diatribe
Having grown up in the blue collar city of Somerville, Mass., Mark became involved in community activism after witnessing many of his peers succumb to the cycle of substance abuse, violence, and crime. When drug abuse claimed more and more of his loved ones and gentrification began displacing his friends and neighbors, Mark channeled his own personal pain and the struggles of his community through activism, art, giving speeches and writing poetry.
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