i am from the school of
small axes
of the days
when the most violent
write the letter of the law
the law often a faithless mistress
combines to chalk line my boundaries
forgetting who pushed who first
or legitimizing it
complicit in the minefield of my life
enabling the infamous
wearing black robes
white robes
sometimes in scarlet robes
over brooks brothers suits
all the same in their effect
to stones the builder rejects
tethered in halls of injustice
after being dimissed
after pouring growing planting
the foundation
of the crooked house
outside which i sit
fully loaded
rife with triggers
explosive in the conjured myth
informed by action word deed
and the reality of living in the land
of the lawless triggered by reckless lips
using english like a club
toxic ink on cotton
with jim crow’s shadow reinventing itself
in the dust of my steps
i got triggers
if i ain’t got nothing else
side eye shade interpreted with acuity
fluent in non verbals
subliminal
and lapses in consciousness
and yes you meant that
don’t take it back
because you realize
the safety is off
bare reality ain’t got filters
i got triggers
can smell the call
will answer it
give you your nightmare without hesitation
i have risen not forgotten
we can get low
i know the steps
wrote some of the songs
you sure you want to sing along
i got triggers
will pull belive that
send you to meet your maker
before i let you send me to mine
i am a retired slave
been done been unruly
was never suited for oppression
so i stood up
don’t try to ride my back
i got triggers
you try to put me on my knees
you find out i squeeze
blow you back to where you came from
have you scratching your life
with your good hand
trying to figure out what comes next
i got triggers
i decipher intention in deed word and text
on the look-out for nappy nets
easily vexed
don’t test
i got triggers
lions and gerillas
here
riding in the storm
fully loaded
come for me
i answer the door
if you didn’t want
war what you pull up for
reciprocity is a religion
catch me wrong
i serve what i am given
i got triggers
