Poem-A-Week
Oxygen
by Woodrow Bailey
Only in America of America
Of the times that phase has darken her lips
Oath to be in the Land of the Free
Obedient to the citizens under government control
Obey laws, obey authority, and obey faith
Obligation seems simple enough for Humanity
Outrage
Outreach
Out run
Outside
Outright
Outstanding is our resolve against Jim Crow
Obsess in the fact my ancestors were not citizens
Oblivious declaration of the number 3/5
Odds against them from the first day of 1619AD
Oddity was they knew they were not free
Occasions still show there is a future in any America
Occupancy always limited as those 40 acres
Outgoing
Outcast
Outclass
Outcome
Outlook
Outlandish to think those in power will concede
Observe the systemic racism as water
Obsession overflowing as rivers of pain, death
Obsolete is never a term used by Jim Crow
Offspring continue to birth new oppression
Obscene gestures lowering standards of decency
Overseer flicks his wrist north as anger burns
Out of date
Output
Out of time
Outsmart
Outskirts
Outspoken gets you a trigger of aggression
Overstate the truth as malicious lies lying
Own is a term my ancestors use as never
Outdated thinking melts as misery hides
Outgrow the systematic ignorance that is harbored
Outlying dreams of equal tomorrows
Out of the way my ancestor’s spirits sing
Overgrown
Overkill
Overlap
Overmatch
Overplay
Overrule the senselessness moving forward
Original nightmares come from organic dreams
Ordinance of hope blasted away by lies and liars
Orbit far reaching fallacy of Freedom
Orchestra of harmony of cotton fields of spirituals
Orderly conduct cost martyrs their lives
Ordinary disrespect of usual Demons
Overtone
Overwhelm
Overtime
Oversee
Overstep
Oversight as misguided mistakes create mismanagement
Oxygen
.jpg)
Woodrow Bailey was born New Orleans and raised in South Central Los Angeles. His creativity took flight when his mother taught him how to write at age three. His philanthropy, his career, and his writing represent those with no voice or choice in this society.
​
Woodrow Bailey uses the words as a prose into his environment; he sees those who are left with little to no option as his audience. His writing is their testimony as he observes social issues. As the same streets he grew up on continue to be his composition book, those life lessons fuel what he stands for: Peace and Faith.