verbal weaponry

smooth edges
gleam against
shine of his teeth
bared as
each letter
of
each word
of
each sentence
of
his speech
cuts through
with surgical precision

splitting
membrane from bone
while pain splatters and stains
in toxic tides as
each atom
of
each cell
of
my being
curls fetal
from fatal division

briefest of moments

for the briefest of moments
the feeling was real
i had love in my heart
and you had my will

for the briefest of moments
i felt i was blessed
this emotion for you
proved stronger than the rest

for the briefest of moments
the words to the songs
telling of devotion
were all sing-a-longs

for the briefest of moments
i had myself fooled
and tortured myself
after your passion cooled

yet the real tragedy
wasn't the ending of we
but in the briefest of moments
when i
had lost
me

it only takes seconds

before the ink
on this paper
has dried
another black man
mortally wounded
has died

before what i
just wrote has
been comprehended
the life of another
young brother
has ended

before you throw
down this poem
in disgust
a bullet has
torn through
another one's guts

five to ten seconds
three black men
are gone
imagine how many
had this been
a song?