"Open Your Eyes"

By Frederick Phillips

Open your eyes and if you still can not see
Buy contacts, glasses, anything that will help
I opened my eyes they labeled me a thug
Why would I write?
Because I experienced a rough life
Of my childhood, moms motherhood and dads
Fatherhood and when he left you stood
Exactly where father stood
Now I can see the unseen
I can see the naked things in my dark chocolate eyes
I can see the beauty of the clouds that buzz in the sky
The beauty of American eagles that struggle to fly
Of the stars that form constellations of little dipper
O’Ryan, Big Dipper and Milky Way in place
Of the love like a scar that shows upon her face
The beauty of the curved lines that form the horizon
The flow of the river
The chilling wind that whispers in my ears
I now see the beauty that never seemed to appear
The beauty of a 360 degree view of a mountain
6000 feet in height
Of the full moon on a clear Montana night
Of the fully grown trees laden with leaves
Of the snow that gently taps the ground
Of the mountains spread widely in the town
The beauty of the past cause
I remember when rhymes didn’t get you a flat line
Or make you a victim of a homicide crime
I remember the times when the Nena could dress up
As snow white and wouldn’t get a red poisoned apple
For her trick or treat
When hide and seek was for an hour and not a week
When it was safe to walk the streets without a heater or
A burner
I don’t know if there was a time when men kept their
Hands off women cause it dates back as far as Tina Turner
When twelve year olds weren’t measuring grams on a scale
When shooting Macs and Ingram’s weren’t in fairy tales
When statistics said only five percent of you end up in jail
When statistics said more than 50 percent of students had
Good grades and 10 percent of the world had AIDS.
The beauty of the shared moments of the strength of the
Homeless
The beauty of the lights that flood the buildings of Center City
That beauty of Philly streets of the cold which brings cherries
To your cheeks I can see no contacts or glasses I can see beauty