THE FRONTLINE

THE FRONTLINE
A Poem by Rene Velez

I'm still waiting for that hug from my dad
and the "I love you" but it won't pass
because he's past on, life doesn't last long
and so I wait, hiding these emotions
with my poker face, a gift from the ghetto
and the language of a swearing sailor,

I carry my thoughts in a knapsack
filled with burdens and failures
but I bet most black men feel like me
with a fight or flight response,
my chances are between one in three
honestly, we have polls in the hood
thanks to the media like FOX News,
according to them, even in Jordan's
I'm in some fucked up shoes,
it's my prearranged marriage with
America and the boys in blue.

So I walk the city streets bobbing my head
to my freedom tunes stored on my Ipod,
downloaded from Itunes,
checking my nine and three O'clock
at all times with an invisible sign
on my back that says:

"BECAUSE OF MY COLOR
I AM GUILTY OF THE CRIME"

As they entertain their horrors
of the black man taking over
but the reality colder because
it's fueled by hate...Oh wait !!
have you seen the movie,

Rise of the planet of the apes?

© 2011 Rene Velez

Author's Note

It may come off a bit angry but I'm not, just the perspective of someone growing up in Harlem..

Reviews

[Bailey C. Writing]

You've expressed some deep emotion here, as you always seem to do in a great way. You should expect by my reviews now that I enjoy all your poetry, and can offer no constructive criticism because your poetry is already great :)
It's like I was inside your head, listening to your deep, innermost thoughts.
You did a good job :) Very emotional and very good

[Ruth]

And oh my! What a hit hon! As always...you do a superb job of driving home such imagery! I am always left thinking after your words...that is art!
xx

[Victoria PoetryBunny]

loved this part:
"checking my nine
and my three O'clock
at all times with
an invisible sign"
... really interesting write how you wrote this, really really good tho i enjoyed this :D

[Kenneth The Poet]

this is awesome! favorited.

[Neva Flores Smith - Cha..]

Rene,thank you once again for letting us inside your heart and mind. I am deeply touched by this one and also deep in thought. XX

[DONALD EISSLER]

Like your style on this...being a WASP from a small town in upstate NY I didn't have that anger growing up..buuuuut found a bit of that anger in a place called VIET NAM....there
black was black
white was white
until we all were in
a god damn fire fight

then black was white
white was black
color couldn't care less
one always had the others back

just a little something pulled from the archives of my mind damn im gettin old lol

[Maya Storm]

...and he sticks the ending!

Fav part: "checking my nine
and my three O'clock
at all times with
an invisible sign
on me that reads
"I AM GUILTY
OF A CRIME"

shoot first, ask question later is still the way they do it in most places. I still have yet to figure out how or when that will change. You have just sparked a thought in me Rene.

[Umar Hassan]

A very enjoyable read. Easy for me to identify with images. Seems like less alliteration... breathing space for rhymes to surprise as you sometimes bury them bu the rhythms point the way. When you wrote "checking my nine.." I though the reference was to being strapped but "and my three O'clock" raised doubts as to my reading. Help a brother out...