"THE BLOCK"  (IN SPOKEN WORD)

That walk...

even on the hottest day, you must have been cold with fear…  
     
you had to walk…    
     
did you notice a flower…a bird…anything with life…to make you feel less dead inside?…    
     
on your walk…    
     
did you count the steps you took…to remind yourself that you were a thinking being…    
     
did you scream from within a deafening cry…that you dare not release for pure certainty of being beaten?    
     
and you step…and you step…how does it feel beneath your feet?    
     
centered on this block…for display…    
     
wanting to see the blue of the heavens…but only seeing gray…    
what are you thinking?    
     
you are twirled around so all can see...what a healthy slave you are…”fit as can be”…    
     
they grease you down so you appear shiny and new…no hint of the lashings or the drugs you were given to make you move…    
     
most times without food…”yes,you will work better than a mule”…    
     
the auctioneer sounds off…do you then close your eyes…and remember    
     
back to the place in time…where you felt like a man inside…or, is that memory too distant to capture?    
     
there were many and plenty places in history…where you were kings who ruled dynasties…    
and this fool has the nerve to want you to call him master?    
     
as the numbers fly over your head and through your heart…do you wish for your life to hurry to an end?    
     
sold!
…for 75.00 dollars…
”if they don’t kill me i’ll be at the next biddin'.”