LOVE AND WAR MIX ALL TOO WELL
For the duration of this longtime courtship-cum-war
(which has been so muddled from instant one),
He has never quite understood the nature of the thing.
Nor, he suspects, does she have anymore of a grasp than he.
(at least not the grasp of understanding
for the physical grasp,
truth be told,
is all too real!)
This has not so much been a
Thin line between Love and Hate,
But rather a line so tangled and knotted up over time
That any hope of determining which one is on what side
Was lost far longer ago than one would dare to surmise.
The hate is mixed with love and the love is mixed with hate
And the whole messy batch would make gumbo
Look like a bunch of separatists.
It is no longer possible to tell a stroke from a slap,
A kick from a kiss,
Or a hug from a hit.
At times she longs to love and at others she tries to rape,
Yet at times he tries to rape and at others longs to love.
The frustration is as potent as their own perspiration
For he genuinely loves her
(At times!)
And she genuinely loves him
(At times!)
Neither will give in yet neither wants the other to.
They are lovers yet enemies
And enemies yet lovers.
Who knows when this fracas yet a romp will end
(assuming that it ever will)
For they are at war and at peace with each other.
The spectators watch in awe for they know
That the outcome may well determine the ultimate fate.
But in the meantime,
The struggle continues between the
Black Man and America.
© 2005 Garrett Murphy
