black men don't leave

they say
black men don't leave
that they never run
but this morning this teary-eyed son
adds his own rain to clouds above
if we haven't been chasing dragons
we've been chasing paper
chasing tumblers of johnnie walker
and any woman with pretty eyes
and a warm bed
as i write
my head feels like the skins
elvin jones used to slap
tired but not enough for that dirt nap
because i have to be the man
to replace those
that left for greener fields
and found gravel and shit
and all the misery abandonment yields
black men don't leave
but their vacations are long
they've been emblazoned on the page
encrypted in song
and i may have thought of running
but i always chose to stand
maybe that's why my eyes
resemble a shell-shocked wasteland
but
this is one black man
who wont leave
who wont run
and as my screams die within my blood
and my fears wither under the sun
here i stand
determined to do what
other fathers, brothers and sons
haven't done.

3.18.11