Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Willful


A king's crown laid with blood diamonds
From the poorest river
A church goer on the sidewalk 
Holding signs with readings of the Devil 
A child abused a mother ignores to save herself 
Like an empty collection plate 
Passing a beautiful Shellie McDowell
If God's love is biased how will
I wake up in the morning 
With his love as my only desire 
Life is written in stone 
Words splattered in red ink 
Cursed with a black pupil 
As the dot on every i


Black masters white slaves 
Vs. white masters black slaves
Black on white against black on black 
All white on white supremacy flags
Thrown in vanilla rushing waters 
As black face(s) running the streets 
Of NY to the sounds of Gil Scott-Heron




©2012 Anthony Desmond Scott. All Rights Reserved.


for open link night @dVersePoets join the fun!



click here to follow Glass Staircase

23 comments:

Claudia said...

A king's crown laid with blood diamonds
From the poorest river...you're a master in opening lines that set up the stage perfectly for what follows...great imagery as always sir anthony..and we have reserved a place for you in the first row over at dVerse for you..smiles

Anonymous said...

I, like Claudia, liked your opening lines but these too struck me,
"Words splattered in red ink
Cursed with a black pupil
As the dot on every i".

Anonymous said...

I agree with Claudia. The opening is spectacular.

Anonymous said...

The line that I kept coming back to was: "A child abused a mother ignores to save herself." It's one of those things we can understand and yet not really comprehend. Peace, Linda

mrs mediocrity said...

your poetry is always filled with such power, such rhythm, such intensity, i hear drums beating and see the blood you speak of.
life is written in stone...and yet, there is always the chisel.

Stu McPherson said...

For me this speaks of life's contradictions that are so obvious but never shouted. It's in the silence of these contradictions that life's words are splattered with red ink like warning signs. Very carefully placed words and very powerful

Buddah Moskowitz said...

Great imagery,o that Gil-Scott Heron was actually played in the streets. Well done.

Arron Shilling said...

Big up GSH... ^^^

hey that 1st stanzas got balls but the 2nd damn near blew my balls of their hinges or cords or whatever connects my nads up - enough about my nuts... this is the dogs bollocks...

Arron Shilling said...

Just in case :)

Dog's Bollocks;

In UK slang terms the "dog's bollocks" means the best. It comes from the habit of male dog's licking their testicles (bollocks) and that they must taste good as they spend so much time in this activity

(UK) Slang for something that is the cremé-de-la-creme, the leader in it's field

Fireblossom said...

Does this poem know what it wants to be, once it gets focused?

Brian Miller said...

nice grit anthony...A child abused a mother ignores to save herself
all too real on the streets i walk...you whip it up a storm there in that second half of this...

Beachanny said...

I think Arron's comments are funny & informative. Liked your vibrant poem! Always your own voice.

Dulcina said...

Striking poem, indeed, Mr Desmond.
Your words are like sharp stones thrown to modernity in a telegraphic way: nothing is missing and nothing is too much.
All lines are powerful, but these are my favourite ones:

If God's love is biased how will
I wake up in the morning
With his love as my only desire


I don't dare to compare my way of writing with yours, of course, and one of the reasons is that my mother tongue is Spanish, but when I was reading your poem, there came to my mind one I wrote in 2008, "Slaves of ourselves". If you are curious about it, you can read it here:
http://dulcinaandgnome.wordpress.com/thestonethrone/
Nice to meet you.
:)

Maude Lynn said...

I love that opening line!

Laura said...

"A child abused a mother ignores to save herself
Like an empty collection plate" Anthony you describe poverty of spirit as well as material wealth with such clarity...yet your words are rich, rich, rich.

Unknown said...

This poem ..... leaves me thunderstruck. I loved the lines

"Words splattered in red ink
Cursed with a black pupil
As the dot on every i"

But the whole poem ROCKS!

Margaret said...

I find truth in both... but I also think evil is not of God's doing but I understand many people think this way. I like both as they are powerful... I just don't see these two paragraphs together. I kind of lost my "train of thought" from the first to the second. But that may be just me, I'm new to poetry.

Lavonne said...

This was a powerful piece! I adore the fact that your imagery painted emotions before my eyes as I read...wonderful!!!!

emmett wheatfall said...

Golden Anthony, pure gold. Every couplet and tercet full of discernible meaning and new revelation. I am and always will be your fan

hyperCRYPTICal said...

Powerful write - I agree with Arron - the dog's bollocks!

Anna :o]

Stacey Muhammad said...

Life is written in stone
Incredible!

Unknown said...

This is set up brilliantly to attack the thoughts the entire way through. Wonderfully done ~ Rose

Shosannah said...

"The dot on every i"
I love how the lines in this poem conflict and contrast.
One perspective illuminating the other.