Unfinished Works

The value of family reunions has gone up for me, & I hate when death has to be the teacher for change to finally happen.   Looking back at our 2016 family reunion I had no idea how many people wouldn’t be there to attend again in less than 10 years.  I’ve taken family figures for granted & I don’t want to do that again. My dad is always telling me to make sure to call my grandparents, he knows the value of people who are still alive.  A mother has lost her son. An aunt has lost her husband. Sons & daughters have lost mothers & fathers.  I remember my grandma called me persistently earlier this year to say happy birthday and I still haven’t called her back yet. I texted back but there’s an intimacy that comes with hearing another person’s voice.  I remember the day before my other grandmother passed, my dad gave me one of the greatest gifts I ever got. She was in hospice & he put her on the phone.  She asked me how I was doing & I did...

  (this biography of Bruce Wayne is loosely based off the Bruce Wayne from the film, “Batman Begins” Biography: “From ages 0-8 Bruce Wayne was raised in the Wayne Manor by his parents Thomas and Martha Wayne. Martha raises Bruce full time while Thomas runs Wayne Enterprises while raising Bruce part time. Bruce has a happy and fulfilling childhood from ages 0-8 as his parents are extremely wealthy, he has everything he needs and more, and also two loving parents. He is also taken care of by his butler Alfred Pennyworth as well. At age 8 Bruce falls down a cavern when playing with his childhood from Rachel Dawes. He survives the fall but experiences trauma as bats fly around him in a dark environment and it frightens him immensely. Bruce never receives therapy for this trauma, nor does he talk of the experience openly with his parents despite the opportunity to do so. The next month Bruce’s parents take him to go see an opera in which there is a frightening scene where acrobats...

I told y’all, give me around a year & I’ll tell you what I thought about his newest album. Well…here we go.   Kendrick Lamar, one of the greatest rappers of all time won another Grammy, again. This dude grinds on his albums. They’re always complex, have something new to say, & touch on relevant & important issues. But did it deserve a Grammy & was it even great in the first place? I would be remiss to not mention the sales. 35,000 in the US. For some artists this would be big but for one of the biggest rap artists on the planet this doesn’t look too good. It’s not an indicator that ‘Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers’ was bad, it’s just saying that people weren’t rocking with it too much besides the die hard Kung Fu Kenny fans of course. When you compare this to his last 3 studio albums for instance, all three went platinum including DAMN & Good Kid, Madd City which both went 3 times platinum. So what was it about this album that people weren’t as receptive to?...

What a weekend. Do y’all ever feel this way too? Got to hangout with my nephew, older brother, & dad a week ago & we ended up at one of those ‘family fun centers’ with laser tag, mini golf, so on & so forth which really made me reminisce on when this was the norm every weekend.  I remember my childhood Saturday’s being full of cartoons, friends, pizza, Pepsi, & some good times whether we were outside, in the house, or at an amusement park. Kickin’ it was always the best.  Nowadays seems to be filled up with so much homework, physical therapy, paying bills, & trying not to get your car towed on the daily. This may just be the season I’m in for now but It really makes you appreciate the days when you had less responsibilities & having fun was the center of your life  😂 To tell the truth I still feel like a kid inside, adults sometimes bore the heck out of me. If your definition of a party is just to talk with each other the whole time & that’s i...

I showed up early as I always do. Waiting as I always do. You show up late. The tears already dropping from your face miles a minute, hitting the sharp rocks of my consciousness for the last time with your indecision. Just say it already. We kissed too early. We were intimate too early. I jumped the gun and the residue of the chalky gunpowder covered up the droplets of two wounded hearts. It’s not all my fault you know. I did what you wanted when you wanted even when it was too late. Why didn’t you let me know you had already counted the days? Why didn’t you let me know the clock had already stopped? A growing fetus was stunted of its growth to become a stillborn. Trapped in the silent womb of invisible fears. Suffocated in airless hesitancy. Just say it already. I never should have come on time.

I cover up my scars. They only see what they need to see. They had been calling me names for quite some time. Can’t they see I’m just like them?   Why can’t I fit in? No one knows my pain and no one ever will. I will keep it inside. As it festers and bubbles I feel the anger rising to a broken surface.   It seeps out as I yell at a customer. She shows shock in her face but calm in her heart, she asks me what’s the source? None of her business. She says it is her business because my behavior was affecting her so now she’s a part of the situation.   I flinch. My inside’s are filthy. Fermenting in the putrid stench are the lies that have corrupted my mind. They slither nearer and nearer by the second, salivating for my beating heart.   This was my last chance. This poison was going to kill me. I share a little, a little more, not realizing I was moments away from the death of my soul. She meets my words without judgment. She speaks into me without warrant.   She gi...