Quiet down
Listen
Off in the distance 
Can you hear the ancestral drums beating?
Thumping out its unique message
To find one's self one must not forget the past
We've come a long way to go backwards
Tears
Stream down my face
As we the people of color 
Settle for an uncertain future

Can you hear the drums thumping?
I know it's hard to hear 'em over the loud music
Hip Hop and its hypnotic beats
telling the street poet's story
As we nod our heads in unison
Younger generations reciting this flo-etry
While disregarding their school lessons
Intellectual zombies

Can you hear the drums?
Or is it just the sounds of gunfire
As another person of color is snatched away
Life cut short over small change
This, this behavior of the ill-fated
Leaving me speechless
While I try to hear the drums

Turn off the music
Put down your weapons
Stop the flow of drugs
Just for one day 
So you too may hear the drums
Beating