#clarence wright

Trevynn Conley and Clarence Wright Verdict - Have They Been Sentenced?

Boxes A brunette walks into a box A black man walks into a box A feminist walks into a box A queer walks into a box A blonde, a brunette, and a redhead... I have been objectified and vilified By leering eyes And hateful lines Insisting it doesn’t matter what’s in my mind See, you’ve made me a specter in my own home My body an open house for you to peruse I’m stumbling through the rooms Trying to find refuge For a poet caught in the crossfire of image and thought unused Why did the feminist cross the road? Because sometimes fighting for your rights means you have to make a few lefts Girls are encouraged to speak their minds but criticized for not constructing to social paradigms. We’ve been pushed against the wall like cardboard cut-outs in movie theater halls Getting paid 70 cents to each dollar, regardless of degree or gall. People write on the lines because they’re scared of what’s between them. Please, don’t imprison me in this sentiment We talk about freedom like it's currency we can trade and bargain with Shoved into the spaces between our hearts and our heads Tossing around the word free like it’s bolted behind the ballot box Judging each other, not by the contents of our brain-stems but what anatomical wrecking ball rests between our legs. Its not new age. Its common sense. What did the Black man say to the jail cell? I am the wall in which you lie on, rely on, a neglected form of support that once pushed you forward. A designed facade of strength, pride and, glory. I am the young black male that society has deem to fail, or fallen. I can hear the voices of the iron bars calling, Come here, occupy my space, exchange your name for a number, your clothes for a jumpsuit. Provide me with the key to your mind, unshackle me from this cell of mankind I do not want a roommate with the last name of Type and first name of Stereo. Knock-knock. Who’s there? A queer. Don’t laugh. It’s not an insult. It is an identity broad enough to bathe in. An all-encompassing ocean, waters freely intersecting with all others. I am not what you think of as “male” Uncomfortable with the term “gay man” I have decided to join the movement that is making a positive word out of a derogatory statement. I am a student, a barista, a leader, an intern, a lover, a writer, a boyfriend, and a son. But like everyone else, I have no idea how to do this. I do not have it all worked out. I am not your wonder-child-messiah-martyr-combination-social-pariah. I cannot contain all of these obligations I have been given today. But I am so much more than any of my parts. So much more than just a man... or a woman, a gender, or a race Take me as I am. . . Jenni Candace Clarence Garen Do not force me into a box I won’t fit between these edges and lids, corners and walls I ain’t no Tupperware This ain’t no Tupperware party, you can’t buy and mix and match pieces and parts of me Maybe I’m a matryoshka doll With many faces over other faces I want to unpack Not be delivered to whatever doorstep you deem appropriate This is not a postal service This is social claustrophobia at its finest Do not care so much about what others think of you Be careful of what you think of others