An Oath | Teen Ink

An Oath

January 28, 2017
By Puddin SILVER, Tyler, Texas
Puddin SILVER, Tyler, Texas
8 articles 1 photo 0 comments

Favorite Quote:
Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.

Albert Einstein


Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/alberteins121643.html#0PG0eICgXM7wYuYZ.99


Boom! Goes the gun shot by the cop
Down! Goes the man hit by the bullet
Slam! Goes the gavel held by the judge
Outrage! Goes the people but only a few

But it wasn't just a man
But it wasn't just a teen
It wasn't just someone
It wasn't just a person

No he had color deep in his skin
Something that the cop didn't
No it couldn't be clearer that
Something was about to happen

The tension never left
The tension just rose
Just as it had
Those many years ago

Yes it seems absurd
Because it truly is
Yes this has been happening
Because of reasons too many

I didn't come from the Projects
I have married parents
I didn't have as many problems
I know my fellow people had

Now I use the word people
As if it's normal
I use the word people
As if we are separated

But the truth is that
We are separated still
But the truth is that
We act as if things are perfect

This is America right?
Land of the free,home of the brave
This is America right?
Land of the American Dream

Then why aren't we all living the dream?
Why are our actions showing different?
Stop advertising something
Not everyone can get

Not everyone can easily get a job
Or simply go out for a walk
Not everyone has to be judged
Because of the actions a few

I pity the families with kids now gone
Because of the actions of the law
I pity the families born in a system
Where it's hard for them to rise out of poverty

I pity the dark little girls
Who feel like they're trash
I pity the dark little boys
Who are looked at like criminals

I pity the immigrants
Who just want a better life
I pity the immigrants
Who are trying to make it and contribute

I pity the cops
Who have the wrong mindset
I pity the cops
Who are piled in with the rotten eggs

There's so much pity!
Because there are so many who suffer
But they live in a system
That keeps them held down

All lives do matter
But Black Lives Matter
Wouldn't exist without reason
It wouldn't exist without purpose

We want awareness for this problem
And it's a problem only to some
Because this is a problem
Only few can understand

I told you where I come from
I was born with a silver spoon
Compared to most others in my situation
Compared I am what they want

But in my heart I feel an understanding
Not the full understanding
That I might never know
But I feel pain for those in that situation

If it were my brother
If it were my father
If it were my cousin
If it were even me

I'd want justice
I’d want someone to speak
Because the silence is what is remembered
Not the judge who listened

I'd want it analysed
To the finest detail
I’d want everything noticed
To know who was in the wrong

I'd want the system to stop shielding
The bad apples in the big bunch
I'd want the system to stop giving
Painless slaps on the wrist

Not everyone is bad
Not everyone is good
You just need to see the difference
That's all we really ask for

White lives matter
Black lives matter
Hispanic lives matter
All lives matter

But remember justice
And remember the facts
They took an oath
But are they fulfilling it?


The author's comments:

I wrote this piece in response to the situation in America dealing with the racial divide and the police force. 


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