Pants down
to match his feelings
he only notices that you notice
hold him up
to double standards
and low expectations
and in no way able
to sustain him
while he’s in need
but no one needs him
and they don’t believe him
just stereotypes, statistics
and quotas
lead him to be hopeless
but no one feeds him
so he gets life
from his dopeness
dope just so happens
to feed him
and empty stomachs
don’t negotiate
nor reason
with church folk
who are more beware
than believers
they act like he’s invisible
but he sees them
dressed like he wishes
he could afford to
if he could afford to
but he’s only got
what is affordable
to look forward to
and so he knows it’s ignorant
but he is ignoring you
with rebellion
just for the sake
of failure
or until someone tells him
to stop

and think
about what it means
or what it seems
to be
like you’d do for anyone else
like you would
if you wanted to
help

but instead
you label him
strangle him with pressure
erase his memory banks
with test
and lessen his ability
with stress
compound fractures
that lessen his ability
to progress
then blame it on his pants
or because he’s deaf
from loud music
or whatever he does naturally
that you determine
is abuse
or something else
that you wouldn’t
choose
like he had to.

-see

©2014 Cornelious “See” Flowers
@seethepoet