I Know Too Much

 The Things I Know

I know too much because I know more than you

I don’t cull my information from a newspaper

Don’t put myself smack dab in the middle of a protest march

Screaming slogans, somebody else wrote and orchestrated

I know too much because I know more than you

Been knowing them from a time over sixty years ago

Wrote my own words when I was a child

Choked back my own tears when I saw them on paper

Knowing that the injustices I saw

Against my people

Would always scar me

But would never sway me 

From doing what I thought was right

No matter, no matter

I know too much because I know more than you

I know how you scream and let the spittle run down your jawline

Just for show

Just to make an impact of your conviction to hide

The fact that it is far less than you

Want us to know

I know too much because I know more than you

I have spoken to the dead

Spoken to the loved ones of the dead

Spoken to those who are bound to die

Because they are fighting the real enemy

Because they are fighting you

Fighting you who know so little

Fighting you who really are so small

As you emphatically try to convince someone

Anyone

That you know something

Trying to convince yourself

That your hate is meaningful and justified

Even significant

Yet

I know too much

Because I know you

I know how flawed you really are.