Black Skin for Sheets

 I've heard tales about life in those sun down cities. Don't get caught after dark cuz the sight won't be pretty. It got gritty when they snatched you up, rope choking your pride. A grimace on their face when they rule suicide. 

And I'm not from the South, but I can relate. Same story with a twist got me checking the date. 'Cuz I live in Philly where them guns like to bust. The murders in the city reached 500 plus!! In a land where the Klan look like us! 

See its hard to tell them apart could be your neighbor up the street. In Philly where the Klan wears Black skin instead of sheets. And they don't use rope but will choke you with your chain, just to get a lil bit of your change and women get raped on trains. No back wood lynching but they roll backwoods in the kitchen, say they're smoking on their ops. Then we protest the cops. 

And I stay far away from them boys in blue, cuz they snatch us up too, say everyone looks like you. Everyone fits the description from their hair to their sneaks. In a city where the Klan wears Black skin for sheets. 

Got you thinking that's your brotha', thinking that's your mans? Whole time this nigga OT, employee for the Klan. Snatching babies from their Mothers like they did back then. And everyone screams "NO SNITCHING" til its your kin. Power 99 say, "stop the violence, increase the peace", but then play Lil Durk bragging about poppin' his piece. 

'Cuz the Grand Wizard writes the checks and hides in the cut while they people claim they're hurting but don't really give a f*ck. Yeah those sun down cities don't have shit on us! Not Philly where we leave your brain scattered in the dust...in broad daylight with all the cameras watching. Face on Tv Y'all ninjas better than me!

I see passed the knappy hair and melanated exterior. Sun  shining bright but the days are getting drearier. We've gotten used to the killings and we are all immune. Got me thinking about selling balloons. Cuz we release them by the dozens screaming "gone too soon"

From the babies to the elders can't even walk down the street. Lest your get got by the Klan wearing Black skin for sheets.

-Hatshepsut 

Fourteen

Crumbled dollars from my pockets on the counter hand flattened straight,...
my period is late
and my Momma can't pay the bills.
They got dreams of me, fourteen
being a Scholar or Olympic Honor...
I maybe carrying one, but her eyes will never see the Sun
I'm fourteen, and my sister is already feeling the wrath
a path she chose, and as the months pass she can no longer fit her clothes
But that ain't me, no I gotta take a trip to the doctor
Sick to my stomach, but all is good
acting so well I deserve an Oscar
Parents asking where I been and I can't tell the truth.
Been laying on steel tables so I don't have to give up my youth.
And the tears never stopped falling but he told me to do it
But it was my choice never thought that I would be the one going thru it
And the light is shining so bright but all I can see is her face
and nobody understands, they keep telling me to have faith
I'm fourteen!!! And I can feel the flutters in my stomach
Walking hesitantly to the back what Im about to do I can't stomach
But the devil is in my ear telling me its for my own good.
Trophy child, turned another statistic in the hood.
And I can feel the life within me being ripped from my womb
Trying to be grown up experiencing life too soon.
I'm fourteen, but I gotta mask it so they don't know
Gotta annihilate the life inside my womb trying to grow!
Traveled here on my own and no reconcile ever since
And they wonder why my grades declined like its some type of suspense
I'm 14, so they think I'm just going thru a phase
They don't know I'm in the dark tryna see thru the haze
They don't know I'm lost tryna find my way thru the maze
I'm fourteen, and the doctor said he won't tell
but the voices in my head scream louder than my Momma could ever yell
But how was I supposed to know the scars would run deeper than the ones I can see with my eyes
Nobody told me that when I sleep I'd be haunted by her eyes
Nobody told me that the price would be more than what I spent
If I had known I would of taken back every red cent!
Im fourteen! And I cant be taking care of a child
I can't buy diapers and wipes I ain't got no job!
I can't go to school wit bags from being up all night.
I can't walk around pregnant in this town where all we do is fight.
I can't think of one reason I should take responsibility.
I can mask the hurt of destroying life that onced lived within me.
I can wait until they leave to wipe this smile off my face.
Wait until Im alone to cry in my own space.
Im fourteen...Im only 14!

Hatshepsut Amun Re

Returned

I am the daughter of the Waters
Born from the pitch black with a veil to hide my secrets
I came back after my death in the flames
It was the fire that rebirthed me
Summoned me back here,
in the belly of the beast.
They call me High Priestess
The ones that hide between the winds
They told me that I was consumed in the fire and reborn
To avenge, to inspire, to create and be God
They call me the High Priestess
The ones who tip toe in the night
Who’s reflections go undetected in the mirrors on the walls
They gave me a gift when I emerged from the dark waters
Placed it into my hands, right here where no one can take it
Or see it
I am the daughter of the Waters
She gave me her eyes
cried waves of tears when I died in the flames washed clean
I made a covenant with the ones who hush the babies to sleep
the ones who guide us passed the danger and keep our hearts beating...
I am the child of the ancient ones; returned.
Descending from magicians
sorcerers
and medicine men
who stomp feet on hot grounds
and drain blood from sliced necks...
I have returned, they call me High Priestess

Hateshepsut Amun Re

Dear America

Dear America,

They said they want to make you great again, like their ancestors...while I still try to find mine.
Bones hidden in the land of the free and the Earth is still soft but
Shhhhh, don't mention it.
Sweep it under the rug or hide it in the closet with the rest of the skeletons, let the cobwebs multiply
don't teach the truth to your children.
Erase the stories from their textbooks, America's dirty little secrets.
Don't speak it in public they wanna make you great again
Buildings built on the backs of my mothers, mix the concrete with the blood but,
shhhhhh don't mention it.
Make the story sound pretty when the boats docked on shore, you can call it Thanksgiving
give em blankets as gifts
put rifts in the numbers, populations decrease, kill the men and the children,
give them no peace.
Send the missionaries first then flood the people with diseases,
shackle them by the millions, board them on Good Ship Jesus
do whatever your mind pleases nevermind the tension
just don't say a word
Shhhhh, don't mention it.
They wanna make America great again like when trees bore strange fruit, limbs blowing in the breeze
Billy please sing louder!
Cuz they've already begun, and I can still hear the shots from the barrels of their guns.
And the Earth still trembles from the murders unavenged
its like their seeking revenge, their still craving the stench of the burning Black bodies
Swamps filled with the blood of the young, they wanna make you great again:
Motherless sons, fatherless daughters. Let the waters fill with their corpses
they wanna make America great again, they have no remorse.
Let's make tribes extinct, forbid them to think, take away their books
Teach them to jive and jook.
And if they ever learn to do for self, we'll just bomb them like we did everyone else, but
shhhhh don't mention Tulsa, or the bombings in Philly
they don't want you to know that their laundry's so filthy
They wanna make America great again, someone call the new Jim Crow
Is Trump available? How long before we can get these walls built?
Get these penitentiaries filled, we can have em picking cotton by the time the deal is sealed.
Tell the police it's ok to put their sheets back on, gather the crosses for the lawns
Rally up the KKK.
Their sons will be to scared to be like MLK,
no dreams, no visions
cuz they'll be next and we won't about em speaking like Malcolm X
Cointelpro was beyond their comprehension, just don't speak of these things
Shhhhhh don't mention it
They wanna make America great again.

-Hatshepsut Amun Re

Dear Black Man

Dear Black Man,

I hope this reaches you in great spirits, like the ones of your fathers

They built roads over the bones

that we use to travel over everyday

And now we rush to the plantations,

except they got computers now,

We facebook you, like you’re far away from the land that they took you!

And your kids are grown now

And it seems they forgot

They once called me God when I nurtured them from my breast

That you lust when you see me, hips spread like the ocean,

That they dragged your Queen over, shackled her in chains and collars and now your sons won’t bother

Left us raising Kings on our own

Praying the streets don’t suck him in, auction him off on them blocks he stands on

Everyday I shed tears for you I recall when you were royal

When you would die for your Queen

The children revered your every step,

 and it’s like we have nothing left

But we still make due

True, we sided with the devil he gives us bread and cheese to fight the hunger

It’s no wonder why we’re here

Still, like deep waters that holds the souls of our mothers

We conjure them when we face hard times

and honor them when we awaken but most of us are still asleep

And we’re carrying this load but our knees are getting weak, been slaving all week!

With your babies on our hips

No sleep at night when you’re gone

No forehead kisses, just wishes of you being there when it storms

And being there when its sunny

We miss you Black man, and your warrior stance

And we would have broken the steel bars if given the chance!

Beheaded the system but our machetes weren’t sharp

And I would give you my heart if I thought yours would stop beating

And I know you’re not beaten, not defeated or overcome

We just need you to come home so you can see the God in you

Streets got you blinded; a foot on your neck

Deck of cards stacked against you, the try hard to fence you in

Penitentiary filled

They said every 28 hours one of our sons are killed

And every day one of our daughters are raped

Left dead and forgotten,

rotten corpses and strange fruit.

Can’t you see the truth?

Nothing is ever what it seems

And the ancestors march with us, they assured me in my dreams

But we need you black man!

Sincerely,

 Your Black Queen

-Hatshepsut Amun Re

How to Raise a Queen

They asked me,

how can I raise a Queen

when I’ve never been one myself?

Low self-esteem

Had me sleeping with more than just one

Counting 5 kids later, with fathers on leave

How could I conceive

or grab the essence,

of such a royal presence?

To teach a child watching

With a brain like a sponge

When I’ve plunged into

hell and came back with demons

ran with heathens

and whores

and had to fight them too.

They ask how can I possibly

Without awkwardly

Being hypocritical

Teach a girl to be a Queen

without it seeming

fictional.

When I didn’t love myself

Till my health compromised

And I couldn’t be myself

So I wore a disguise

And guys would take advantage

I spent days getting faded

How can I teach her to love,

when I’m so jaded?

How can I teach her to value herself,

more than gold

when I was walking around pregnant at 15 years old?

And they ask me these questions as if I can’t provide an answer

Trying to spread their negative vibes like cancer

But I sit back and smile

While never minding their critique

Wait for the questions to stop

And then I proceed to speak.

Yeah I’ve ran the streets,

 with the good, bad, and evil

it’s taught me to recognize the plight of my people

laid with more than one man

and brought life to creation

it showed me to perfect the art

of building a nation.

Not to mention, the disguise I wore

It benefitted me because

It forced me to look inside myself

To find out who I was

I ran with the hardest criminals

Thugs and all

Taught me how to live my life

Based on Universal Law

Taught me how we all have flaws

And I know she watched me struggle

Watched me get hurt

Taught her how to be resilient

When she watched me rise from the dirt

taught her how to love herself first

you see I’ve never failed

I’ve only learned life’s lessons

And used them to avail

I teach her everything I learn in life

And how to chase her dreams

don’t let the obstacles intervene,

that’s how I raise a Queen.

-Hatshepsut Amun Re

Tragedy

Oh say can you see life on my side of the fence

Been bench pressing, the oppression and haven’t sat up since

Hence,

The day I was conceived

Mom on her knees to make a dollar, inherited her sin

On my third baby father

I been tryna holla I’m a Queen

But my actions show different

How I rip and run the streets living a life reminiscent

Of my father’s

Rolling stone with no hat

Left my children with my mother

So I could lie on my back

A victim of an attack

I never saw coming

Heard them screaming for me to come home

But I just kept running

Trying to be what they told me

And be what I saw

On the tv, I idolized the images

Before I could crawl

And before I could speak they condemned me to this life

Taught me everything I know

Except how to be a wife

And how to be a mother

Sat still and kept my hands folded

While the teacher taught me lies

And claimed my history

Ain’t no mystery

why I’m jaded

A crooked game and I played it

Never told it was rigged

Working on my fourth kid

When all I was doing was searching for Daddy

He told me to call him that

While he was hitting from the back

Couldn’t stand to see my face,

But I still was surprised

When he walked right passed me

Carrying the baby with his eyes

This no lie

They say I’m bitter but really I’m just numb

They think I’m dumb

But if I was, I never would have survived

Although I’m the living dead

Got nothing to offer

So I barter

my soul

Hit the pole every hour

Nikki taught me about dollars

And how I should get it

How I spend it

On hair that flows down my back

Black and cursed is what they called me

Birthed by America the Great

Plates are barren in my house

No spouse

and no structure

A ruptured heart within this cavity

The great tragedy

of a forgotten child

of poverty.

-Hatshepsut Amun Re