Peter Yearwood
Peter was born with polio in Belize in 1955, which left him without the use of his legs. In his teenage years Pete went back and forth between Belize and NY, settling in NY at the age of 15. In his youth, Pete spent his time in his words, “hanging and waiting with nothing to do” developing a drug habit “using, selling and the craziness that comes with it.” Today, he is 19 years clean, lending his skills as OPEN DOORS’s administrator.
Poems
Dreams
Limited but not confined
I can walk run
Do everything like the next man
I am the point guard
Score 30 pts per game
Soon I will be in the hall of fame
I am the drummer laying down a beat
That is sure to get you on your feet
Dream black man.
Dream
I am a master of the sweet science
Cannot be beat
I won the royal rumble
On the football field, I never fumble
This is how I stay strong
Because I can't do any of these things
I can dream
I have lost many things in my life
My will to live is not one
What God has given me is worth more than money.
Each day I am alive is a good ass day
Because I get to dream some more.
Freedom
Are we really free?
Eye in the sky
Cookies
Social media eavesdropping
Internet of things
Looking for a place to live
Software is biased
Algorithms got black people over here
White people right here
Puerto Ricans over there
And the rest you can't even get to
How can we be free
If there is one for them
And another for me?
Get arrested no money stay in jail
Got money get out of jail
Blue eyed man commits a crime
Does little time
Dark skin man is served up like
A cheese line
Mother screams in excruciating pain
A child is born
Innocent, helpless
Blind to the ways of the world
Back in the hood
The child learns how to take cover
Before learning ABC's
They didn't ask for this
They inherited it
You and me
We can fix this
Let us use technology
In a more positive way
Do not let algorithms determine our life
Because of the color of our skin
Science without humanity is a sin
Fix it
So it serves us all fairly and justly.
Message To Corona
Corona, who are you? You came and took over the planet
You don't care that we are on it
You weakened the most resourceful nations
Leaving them begging for rations
Separating families killing old, young doesn't matter who
We have something for you
It's called solidarity
When our way of life is threatened we all unite
To fight the fight
You came like a thief in the night
We will not let you win because we will rise to every challenge you put in front us
You knock us down we get up and brush off the dust.
You see; Corona, what you don't know about us
Is we have dealt with bullies like you before
Your relatives were here in the past, Smallpox, Spanish flu, Black Death, Cholera,
to name a few
They should have told you
We don't turn the other cheek
We are not the meek.
Like the phoenix
We will rise
To entail your imminent demise.
Monster
I will take your dreams
Turn them into nightmares
Take your body your soul
I am in control
You can shoot me you can snoot me
I will never die
Instead, I will make your family cry
You know who I am
You invited me to your party
To hang out with your friends
You thought it was funny
Look at you now:
You look and smell like you want to be left alone
No money, no love, no home
I am your friend, your family, your lover
Your problem solver
You will embrace my euphoria
All the way to the crematoria
You used me, you abused me
That's all good
Now you are gone
I will still be here to carry on
I am...your monster
Frustration
Corona, Corona
This is all I hear
Day in day out
I feel like I want to shout
If I thought that would do any good
I surely would
Frustration is the order of the day
When you are dealing with a "yes " administration
They give you no info
Because they don't know
How am I supposed to survive this
When all I'm getting is a diss
They don't have the common decency to keep us updated on the situation
Frustration frustration
This quarantine is more like incarceration
Except in jail, you get an hour of rec
And a date of liberation
Letters, videos, meetings with the powers that be
None of it means a damn thing
We are still where we started from
If people dying doesn't make them do things differently
Nothing will
The way I see it they are going to do what they want to
Frustration, frustration
They get to go home
We are left to fight this monster
It's like throwing me in a dumpster
Close it
And walk away
Frustration, frustration
Only Human
I am not in this world to fulfill your expectations
You are not in this world to fulfill mine
Do not judge me by the color of my skin the way I talk by the clothes I wear or the way I walk
let's talk
I will tell you my name you will tell me yours already you can see we're not much different
I am somebody's child and so are
you
Let’s not hate each other because life has put us on different paths we were given better tools
Compassion empathy reasoning to name a few
Ask me where I’m going
I want the same things you do
Lend a hand don't show me a gun or a knife they destroy life
Look in the mirror you will see me
I am just like you
Dear World
Dear world,
I am sorry I took you for granted. This pandemic has me realizing we are only rented. Every day so many are leaving you. Things we took for granted are suddenly taken away. The world I live in now is so complicated; no social gathering; can't get close to the people you love; can't show emotions; no hugs no kisses—we have to abstain.
This killer is so deceptive it can be right next to you without you knowing it. All of your children are at risk. It makes me aware that "under the skin" we are all related. One good thing from all this: we have to put our petty differences aside and it shows how easy it is for us to get along. We often think that material things show our self worth but the gift of life is something money can't buy.
I wake up each day grateful to be in your presence never knowing if I could be next; not if but when that happens, I will go knowing I was a part of something so beautiful, complicated and dangerous all wrapped in one.
I have never thought of myself as being bigger than life because I am only a very small part of this equation that brings everything into balance. In times like these we read the writing on the wall that was there all the time—we look, and see; we hear and listen. In closing, I want to apologize for hurting anyone who was entrusted to you by a higher power and forgive the ones who have done me harm.
Sincerely,
One