We Are Tired

We come to you exhausted like men from a war We were enlisted in a battle we did not sign up for Our families lay dead on the streets and hanging from trees Our women lay raped, blood on their knees Our children lay hopeless with no youth in their eyes We come to you tired of all your lies Tired of the life you shoved in our arms, then drained away Keep in mind we are worriors and hard to break But we come to you broken. We are tires of running into the brick walls we are talking to The privileged ignorance that is you The inability to voice our concerns Civil injustice that much like acid burns We are tired of being held at bay We are tired of taking what you have to say! Tired of changing to conform Tired of weathering this unjust storm They tell us slavery was long ago, and we should move on Our great grands, grands, father, mothers and we still suffer because it has never gone! Tell me to get a job but refuse my application Tell me I’m dumb but refuse me education! We create our jobs you burn them down We strive to learn but you shut us down You push us down You keep us down We FIGHT and YELL but you don’t hear a sound! Our bodies are weak and our numbers are low So to you we come to let you know We are exhausted like men from war From fighting in a battle we did not sign up for A life of death We live this oxymoron So as we stand here hands raised but not in surrender We let our tired voice ring out of our tired throats reach your privileged ears and let your privileged eye watch our tired bodies RISE, RISE, RISE in strength A strength unknown to those unfamiliar with pain and suppression We rise, still tired and demand rest for our people So take what I say as a lesson from the restless Just hope we don’t learn how to rule like the opressless