What Are We Now?

There isn’t a video for this song as it’s kinda high for me… even though I’m the one who wrote it.  I think I wrote this right after “Empty”, so it’s a few years old now.

What Are We Now?

We built this world
With dirty hands
Deceiving one another
Any way we can

Am I the only one
Who feels this way?
Or is everyone
Being told what to say?

CHORUS

What have we done?
What have we become?
When the world’s been running on lies
And people are being denied for who they are
What are we now?

A homeless man
Stricken with AIDS
I turn on the radio and hear
“Everything’s okay!”

And as he sits on the curb
Receiving glances and stares
What will happen to him?
How many of us care?

CHORUS

What have we done?
What have we become?
When the world’s too busy with wars
And people don’t know what it’s for
And they don’t care
What are we now?

What are we now?

What have we done?
What have we become?

CHORUS

What have we done?
What have have we become?
When the world’s been running on lies
And people are being denied for who they love

What have we done?
What have we become?
When there’s fighting everyday
And how many lives will we pay
Until we can say…

WHAT ARE WE NOW?

Untitled

Back in 2007, I took part in Project Stitch, a project organized by local youth in preparation for World AIDS Day on December 1st. There were different activities divided amongst us and since I was into creative writing, I joined the Slam Poetry folks (which really consisted of me and two other girls). During my time there, I wrote this poem to express how I felt about people.

My bones remain broken,
My bruises visible.
The damage of deception, betrayal, and blistering words have cut
these canyons in my heart.
So I feebly kneel before the pieces, attempting to begin building these shards
But
Here comes an invited guest,
Loading up on trust,
Before walking away.
Followed by a mother,
And a lover,
Several others,
All taking a bite of what I’ve too freely handed out.
It’s not long till I’m left with my heart,
Stale as a rubber tire.

Without question, I leave my heart in the cold,
Until it is coated with frost and suspicion.

Without doubt, I construct and fortify layers of walls,
Of stone and insecurity.

Without hesitation, I put up frigid, heavy chains,
Melded from iron and isolation.

Every ending has its lessons:

My bones still remain broken,
But my bruises lay unseen,
Beneath this vast, desolate, empty entity
That I used to call “me”.