Tell An Entirely Different Story

Posted bySynnika Alek-Chizoba LoftonPosted inmailbox weekly, PoemsTags:, ,

Allow wings to stretch, like the doors
of a Cinnamon-skinned Ford Explorer

cruising through the late 90s. Dad
used to crisscross state lines, while

I used to catch snoozes in the back
seat, listening to Jeffrey Osborne

croon some Soul for the road. Hustle
had me sick. Future had me lit.

The present chaffed my skin, but
I snaked through wilderness. Now,

I see life skip and clack, like the
tiny, plastic panels on the sides

of worn dice, crashing against gray
stoops. Loaded, maybe. Either way,

I drink the perfect blend, wondering
why sin collects the most respect

and reward. Let it enter my blood-
stream and stimulate my heart.

Capitalism’s jagged teeth shred
dreams. Call it progress (or polite

decay). News headlines buzz.
Genocide continues. Gaza. Sudan.

Bombs fall and US taxpayers flash
grins and twerk for tax cuts and

immigration policies. I strum an
internal guitar, riffing for tomorrow,

like peaceful resolutions don’t exist.
The planet spins. Time flies. Grit

finds a place to sharpen his blade.
My Afro leans against the metallic

breath of country, forcing Crooked
Culture to tell an entirely different story.

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Published by Synnika Alek-Chizoba Lofton

"Synnika Alek-Chizoba Lofton is an award winning poet, the president and CEO of Guerrilla Ignition LLC, host of a Nationally Syndicated radio show, and an educator, teaching literature at Chesapeake Bay Academy and English courses at Norfolk State University. Lofton has recorded more than one hundred and fifty CDs, albums, CD-singles, and mixtapes of poetry, including his highly praised debut, The New Breed. He is the author of twelve books and the founder of Riot Speech, a musical genre combining performance poetry with traditional musical forms, such as Rock, Jazz, and Hip Hop. His poems have been published in Experience Reality Magazine, Quay: A Journal of the Arts, UpStreet: A Literary Magazine, and, in 2014, Lofton has been featured in Blind Sided Magazine. He is a regular on Virginian television programs such as The Hampton Roads Show and Chesapeake’s Thinking Out Loud on WCTV. He teaches World Literature, British Literature, and Composition, while touring the country, performing at literary festivals, musical festivals, poetry readings, open mics, concerts, high schools, and colleges."

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