war too familiar

hip hop became religion

its air filled my lungs

~

war sat patiently

waiting at the cold doorsteps

of her uterus

~

a selective reserve

tattooed number served as fate

desert destined sun

~

gunpowder and melted brass

Miles of insurgents

blows my mind out of frame

~

first war—religion

I can still smell the singed faith

committed to love

~

pain blowing away

old napalm with new weapons

for peace sake missions

~

I see the sea red

sailing on oceans of dried blood

filling our veins with more

~

war quenches the thirst

for right is no more right than

in wrong directions

~

rifle and bible

at the ready to send souls on

from land to sea

~

trying to escape

freedom became a prison

with no key like love

~

I knew war before

I could dream of peaceful things

even before love