2PENS&LINT
a new direction in poetry
2 Pens & Lint LLC
P.O. Box 3292
Philadelphia, PA 19130
Land Of The Free
Wrote this by my window
worries on a Wednesday
eyewitness of my world
young warrior, no sensei
still sending prayers cause sins play
a large part in my society
saints get weak sometimes
serpents in suits got the innocent doing time
paid bribes to say we did the crime
bottom boys, we were born guilty
other side, it ain’t hard to become who they say you are
tv screens and statistics defining out image
this is what we go through
I learned to grow to
the facts my folks used as fertilizer
autobiographies of my people
the whole lineage is straight
from Henry Dumas to Quincy Troupe
didn’t expect us yesterday
won’t expect us tomorrow
still coming hard
our excellence sneaks upon america
through rhyme couplets
and crescendos in four four time
a majority of our excellence
is caged inside america’s prisons
tucked away from our society
so you’ll never see their pain
or wonder why they were selling cocaine
in the first place
tucked away so you’ll never no their names
and how Quentin has two kids back home
a wife who works two jobs
and a mother with breast cancer
her son, caged
we treat humans like animals
with the nerve to celebrate freedom
and independence on the fourth
while having the largest
prison population in the world,
america is a lie
it has no morals
no conscience
shows no remorse
your modern day peculiar institution
your society is inhumane
complains about caged dogs
while caged men get gang raped
penises covered in blood
toothbrushes become defense mechanisms
addicts waking up in cold sweats
no help with kicking habits
brothers with mental disorders
never receiving proper medication
trapped in cages
and if america really cared
we’d put money towards prevention
by investing in our schools
our summer programs
and our communities
so we’d never be in a position
to become criminals
but citizens of this society
would rather protest cruelty to dogs
and discuss fashion over blogs
how much money Michael died with
as if any of the money would make it to heaven
america has a short attention span
forever sidetracked from what really matters
place the penitentiaries away from the people
so we can’t see the problem
but our prisons are a problem
america is a contradiction
your anthem
doesn’t match your actions.
-Christopher K.P. Brown
-Land Of The Free is featured in 25 To Life.
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