Dee Allen

Broken Contract

–for Trevor Noah and Kimberly Jones

There’s a high, steep mountain We, the ambitious, must climb To reach our sweetest dreams

And after numerous Attempts at advancing Up that same Monolithic rock, almost touching the moon,

The White elite above Still can’t stand to see Any brother, any sister On the come up—

A level playing field Is a threat to them. Economic freedom Is a threat to them.

The closer we get to the summit, The farther down We fall from Being pushed by The few nearest To the top.

It’s when the earthen floor Surrounding the mountain Fills with fallen, fractured Bodies, dark of skin

That shows The social contract between White America and Black America Being broken.

Dee Allen

Dee Allen

Bro Way

Redacted documents exist, But do redacted road signs?

One sure enough does In these smoky and pestilent times.

Splotch of Krylon© black Spray-paint changed the name And character of downtown Oakland’s main drag

From Broadway To Bro Way and it shows.

When the businesses closed down Behind thick plywood and nails, Polychromatic murals went up, Coating them with words and images. Open air, free of charge Art exhibit over two miles wide.

Aerosol can-made homages To the non-Caucasians no longer here—Bayard Rustin, Ray Charles, John Lewis, Sandra Bland, Emmett Till, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor— And heroes still Among the living— Angela Davis, Cornel West, Boots Riley, Stevie Wonder—

Different sceneries in different hues declare Liberation for the Africans here in the West. The dead deserve justice. The living, respect—

Who would’ve thought civil unrest, Shattered windows, protestors battling cops,

Could bring a great surfeit Of beautiful paint, art for blocks?