Within

Darkness falls like the silken curtain of tears on a barren strand of moon washed pearls

Shadows dance beneath its beams of scattered light and broken dreams. The echoing stillness evaporating the night, brings hope and destiny to their ultimate end.

Harsh gray walls close out the gloom and end the cycle of protracted pain and yet...like the birth of a new star explodes with new life trapped in a forgotten past

A cloudless sky...a bloodless moon...a barefoot print on a deserted beach.

Darkness
Silence
Shadows aglow

Light in darkness implodes...

By:
Tarin Glenn-Brown
2010
(c)

Near Perfection

Like the fragrance of dawn wrapped tight within nights fleeting embrace, the shadows of time converge to one single point...love

It is the catalyst of wars born from its tempestuous desires and the creator of sonnets derived from a languishing romanticism coated with age and simplistic ideals...love

Decadent in its alluring nature it seeks to consume the very essence of humanity and yet, like a never-ending fire, it burns through the heart to the very soul...love

Passion leaps at its touch. Anger rages at its denial. Hope flares from its promise. Beauty emerges from its embrace...love

An intoxicating aroma overwhelming the senses creating near perfection of taste...touch...smell..an obsession of the mind enveloped in tranquil acceptance of its inevitability...love

A kinder death has never been found. A more profound birth never recorded...

Love. Near-perfection in constant motion

By:
Tarin Glenn-Brown
September 2010 (c)

Black Men Don't Cry

Suck it up!
Be a man!
Dont let the world see what's really going on inside
Give a nod here, a smile there...
Do the back pounding, fists bumping 'hey man wassup how's it hanging' greeting
everyone's accustomed to;
blinded by.
Not allowed to see the reality that IS you

Shake it off
Close your mind
its not that important after all

Me?
Show emotion?
Say what's on my mind??
You must be crazy!
Aint no way that's gonna happen!
We don't talk...we observe
we don't share...we analyze
We don't attach....we de-tach

Feelings??
What feelings??
Feelings are for the weak and insignificant
For the saps who believe in a happy ever after and silver linings behind every cloud
Feelings belong to daydreamers and well wishers; believers in love and of love
When reality bites them in the ass they fall to their knees and cry 'why me Lord'
Feelings betray you,
Shame you,
Subdue you.

Suck it up!
Shake it off!
There is no time or place for 'emotion' and 'feelings' and 'sharing'
I'm a man!
I take care of what needs taking caring of; I take care of what's mine
Nothing more...nothing less.
I handle my business!

what did you say?
I'm wrong to think this way?
To live this way...be this way?
Heck no!
This is who I am; who I was made to be
the expectations of a generation of black men
Who
Do
Not
Cry

by: Tarin Glenn-Brown
January 26, 2011 (c)

I Pray

Take me by the hand and lead me to your promised land
Show me things I've never known
Heal me so there's pain no more

Guide me through this tragic world
Shield me from its daily purge
Cover me with your life giving blood
Embrace me in your tender love

Build me up when I am weak...
to weak to stand; too weak to speak
Shake me lose from procrastinations' arms;
break me free from depressions' scars

Empower me through your Spoken Word
Enlighten me with your written verse
Lift me from earths decaying hold
Enfold me in warmth...in joy...with your simple touch

Teach me the patience to love and to...love
Create in me a heart that is clean and honest
and just as just and pure as yours

Wash me without and wash me within
Renewing, refreshing, rejuvenating, restoring
Awaken my soul to your hearts beating rhythm
I cherish,
I honor,
I worship,
I pray


By: Tarin Glenn-Brown
(c)2011

Liberty's Truth Defined

Their chains dragged despair from its bloodstained root

and carved a legacy built on hope and triumph

Their backs tracked by leather riddled scars of ignorance and fear

carried forward the strength of a generation born for greatness

Through sweat and tears, shed and unshed

and pain so unimanageable its memory lingers still,

they fought for the right to be seen and heard

With fist in air and voices united the songs of our past rang out loud and clear.

No longer bound by iron alone, flesh and blood cast their lot

to purge what was already clean and pure.

The earth cried out with each drop of blood shed;

each molecule absorbed into its bowels.

And yet the voices continued to rise; continued to swell

with the knowledge and pride of a people born from a generation of warriors and kings.

A nation of priests and artists.

A wellspring of musicians and poets who, through the power of a single ideal

forged a road from their past to our future; their vision to our reality

From the jailhouse to the death room.

From the shanty town to the presidential suite.

One man's blood became another man's freedom;

the blood of the slave for the blood of the free.

Through their secret tunnels; their spoken words;

their march to the martyrs drum

the forefathers of greatness gave birth to the sweet sweet melody

of life and love and liberty for all

By: Tarin Glenn-Brown

January 20, 2011 (c)