what time is it when
levees leak and bridges fall
when jena 6 ain’t protected by laws
when seasons seem out of order and
local taxes are placed on bottled water
when prisons seem a rite of passage for little black boys
who can’t get to school on time
cause mama didn’t value time
cause daddy couldn’t stand the test of time
leaving her in welfare lines, bus line, cheese line,
clothes line, loosing minds and wanna kick a
bitch’s behind cause it’s about time we find time
to figure out what time it really is

what time is it when you can’t rest
life’s stress got you feeling less
than what you really feel
to heal you smoke a blunt, do a line, pop a pill
hoping to sooth your aching soul
lonely like polar bears at the North Pole…
you just wanna blink yaself away
lord forbid they call you gay
you just wanna scream
cry out, throw punches at God
time out time out this poem and these words have gone to far
we have gone to far
what time did you say it was?

it’s hard to tell
since wal-mart started selling bee-bee guns
ain’t no street lights on in my neighborhood
and I’m feeling grown cause i got a house key
mama no longer waits up for me
so i’m free to run the streets, learning shyt i ain’t
suppose to be
past my bedtime and i’m smoking weed
peer pressure all over me so i’m feeling the need to run
up in virgin-hairless-pussies cause that’s what time it be
at least that’s what i see on tv or when i listen to brother’s cds
or on them tapes he hide under his bed
su-per head…what time is it?

hammer time, tool time, lunch time, bed time,
time won’t give me time
And time makes lovers feel,
like they got something real,
cause you and me we know
We got nothing but time,

my momma used to say,
take your time young man,
my momma used to say
don’t you rush to get older,
bolder
colder
like sands through an hour glass
these are the days of our lives
our time is nigh

when levees break and bridges fall
when our brothers and sisters are still being raped by laws
when our kids are learning things they’re not suppose to be
when prisons become warehouses for misguided kings
when aids continue to consume our heart-broken love-seeking queens
who don’t wanna raise a baby alone
cause a house is not a home when there’s no one there
to hold you close and hold you tight
on late nights ‘til morning time
time to pay rent, time to pay energy, time to pay peter time to pay paul
damn what time it is ya’ll?
…time to wake the fuck up.