social learning theory
(Derrion Albert)

there is no angle, approach, or theory
that tends to the hearts
fallen on forgotten streets
they lay there long after bodies have been collected
broken
in suspended loss
outliving the children who walk by

trees from which we were hung
paved over
turned into communities
graveyards with no fences
that we call home
where death and struggle are badges of honor
destroying
that which ties us together

we are not yet civilized
they say
we model the violence
that was, and is, inflicted on us
the world
perfecting the twisted lessons of internalizing
hatred and violence
beating ourselves
to give the pain back
to someone
i say

our children are not well
they are dead
dying
aware of the glass walls
not yet focused on the ceiling
still, laughing under the sun
until they are gone


we have learned all to well
to
hold
it together
while we are
f a l l i ng
apart
as if waiting for the perfect child to die
upsetting the false order of death
while
every child who dies is a perfect example
of a society gone brutally wrong

they are so small and cold
mostly black and brown
and
dead
we are responsible
this is not a theory
babies are not really smiling at you
they are modeling the action of the joy we give back
when we smile at them
smiling at us
children are really killing children
they are modeling the destruction we cause
leaving broken hearts in the streets
where life continues
in a painful way
that interrupts our dreams
splitting us from our true selves
ourselves
where we would never live through the death of our children
daily
this is not a theory

the eyes of any child
beg to be wrapped in safety and love
not so tight that they cannot see
but close enough to live and explore
we cannot hold the hand of a dead child
but
we can fall back in love with ourselves
demanding the futures
of our children


there is no angle, approach, or theory
that tends to the hearts
fallen on forgotten streets
they lay there long after bodies have been collected
broken
in suspended loss
outliving the children who walk by

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