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Learning to Walk
Right
By Venus Lanaux
 
There was a time where my legs didn't work
so good...
My "instinct" taught me to crawl.
In me, I stink- as I take credit for it all.
 
The day I felt educated enough to stand,
I feared no failure as I stood-
Then I fell.
My own understanding hurt me. Swell!
 
"Something" gave me the strength
To stand again,
And then
I realized that He was with me all the while.

Selfish
By Venus Lanaux
 
Why do we choose to stay so sick?
Continue to fall for the same old tricks.
Why do we proceed to live in the past?
Store up for ourselves; fear attack?
Ha!
It hurts: The way they don’t love you.
Ask them who they love, “Who?”
They don’t need anyone else.
They're all out for them-DAMNED-selves.
They love their things…See their *BLING*?
They write their own stories:
‘My work. My strength. My glory.
Dead presidents got money & I want mine.
Bank account’s an hourglass; you’re wasting my time’.
When all they had has gone to waste,
It all adds up and calculates their fate
They’ll have pushed all the right ones away,
Only to learn, all too late,
That all they ever really had was the day.

Selfish
By Venus Lanaux
 
Why do we choose to stay so sick?
Continue to fall for the same old tricks.
Why do we proceed to live in the past?
Store up for ourselves; fear attack?
Ha!
It hurts: The way they don’t love you.
Ask them who they love, “Who?”
They don’t need anyone else.
They're all out for them-DAMNED-selves.
They love their things…See their *BLING*?
They write their own stories:
‘My work. My strength. My glory.
Dead presidents got money & I want mine.
Bank account’s an hourglass; you’re wasting my time’.
When all they had has gone to waste,
It all adds up and calculates their fate
They’ll have pushed all the right ones away,
Only to learn, all too late,
That all they ever really had was the day.

The Scare Closet
By Venus Lanaux
In the silence, my heart aches
For the gentleman I neglect to date
Because I'm stuck in a closet
And I'm not quite ready to unlock it.
I really want to get away,
But I'm so comfy that I prolong my stay.
Cushioned by my anger for so long
That I'm convinced that it keeps me strong.
It won't be until I learn to not rely on myself
That I'll understand how to love someOne else
If I open the door prematurely,
Distractions and wolves- they'll get me-
If I sit in wait, no one may ever open the door;
My own weakness wonders what I'm fighting for.
When I do finally present, all tattered and worn,
He may not be waiting for me anymore,
Because I elected a pacifier over a better Man
Settling for just what I could see in my hands.
In my haste, I'll end up late
Disappointing our only first date.
I'm must find Him now
And ask Him to take me out!

SICK PEOPLE
By Venus Lanaux
We are a people focused on immediate gratification,
Not GOD’s glory and representation.
How many ways do we have to hurt inside?
When will we realize
The devil wants us to die?
 
To see our children being killed in the street:
For society to allow murderous permissions-
Lie; steal; g’head and cheat...
 
An infant, left unattended on a porch,
No one knows where the babe is anymore.
A mother anticipates as her child is due to
graduate,
He is involved in a fatal accident as she sits in
wait.
An adolescent walks in the street,
Racism’s appointment, “Your maker you will meet.”
 
What inspires us to label, to carry on?
Does anyone even care what happened to Trayvon?

InSAMEnia
By Venus Lanaux
 
My eyes- they are closed
But not shut so tight
I am ignorant to the cries
That hinder my sleep at night.
 
Existence and its barbs;
Babes bleed, holding a thorny
reality
As they endure lessons’ harm…
This isn’t how it is supposed to
be.
 
All the trees that have fallen:
Ineffective cries.
Family undermining loyalty;
Abandon without so much as a
good-bye.
 
Yes. A world in darkness
surrounds me
Ignorance in what’s going on.
But His light abounds in me.
I keep faith, in time, the darkness
will be gone.

Community Snatch
By Venus
Lanaux
 
Daughters
out there seeking acceptance-
Low
self-esteem born of generational rejection;
Dudes on
the street can give them attention
But
cannot see what they should in our daughters’ reflections.
 
Sisters
out there, neck dancin’ & actin’ annoyed-
Just mad
at a world that could never fill that void
Feeding
these men- that won’t work
Because
they rob our sisters, and don’t care that they’re hurt.
 
Mothers
out here- Do you know what that means?
S’posed
to be building and tending to our children’s needs.
How are
we protecting our babies from the attack,
If we’re
not teaching them to preserve what is taken that we can’t get back?

Community Snatch
By Venus
Lanaux
 
Daughters
out there seeking acceptance-
Low
self-esteem born of generational rejection;
Dudes on
the street can give them attention
But
cannot see what they should in our daughters’ reflections.
 
Sisters
out there, neck dancin’ & actin’ annoyed-
Just mad
at a world that could never fill that void
Feeding
these men- that won’t work
Because
they rob our sisters, and don’t care that they’re hurt.
 
Mothers
out here- Do you know what that means?
S’posed
to be building and tending to our children’s needs.
How are
we protecting our babies from the attack,
If we’re
not teaching them to preserve what is taken that we can’t get back?