42 Arrested in 'Taliban Gang' Bust
The Tension of love, justice, hope, and dreams deferred
The Tension of KNOWING some of these folks needed to be picked up
And some are a tadpole being rolled into a tsunami
The Tension of knowing these “grown men” as they were little boys,
Seeing their struggles and wiping their tears
Of watching as they grew into the men that lost their way
The Tension of love and hate aimed into one direction
The Tension of the police doing their job
And the church failing at theirs
The Tension of sitting with mothers as they weep
Their tadpole's shown as a monster
And listening to others describe their Monsters
As angles
The Tension of those from the outside with all their comments
Colliding with those that know a different story
The Tension of little boys who have seen nothing else and
Grown men who know better
The Tension of HOODSTARZ as Role Models and Role Models as
HOODSTARZ
The Tension of 42 African American sitting in a courtroom
With 42 white lawyers
The Tension of 60 folks watching
and only 2 of them men
The Tension of “ I told you”
and I’m so sorry for you
The Tension of 10 years to life
And you can never give back what you have taken
The tension of paying a debt
And those who love you PAYING it DOUBLE
The Tension of kids without daddies
Becoming daddies without kids.
The Tension of a straight A junior
Unable to help her mother
The Tension of a mother's fight
Unable to undo what is done
The Tension of CRACK COCAINE sells
And COCAINE buyers
The Tension of a community without 42 members
And 36 children without fathers
The Tension of a Father incarcerated with his sons
And untold stories,
The Tension of celebrating LIFE GIVING choices
And mourning that you were there when it started
The Tension of systemic issues
And personal choice
The Tension of Truth
And fear spewed by media
The Tension of communities forgotten
And one-sided stories
The Tension of God’s promises
And perceived reality
The Tension of LOVE, JUSTICE, HOPE, and DREAMS DEFERRED.
