Gun Shots in the Garden of Eden

Gun shots in the garden of eden,
Gun shots in the garden of eden,
What you gonna do?
When gun shots ring in the garden of eden?

A beautiful, spiritual place
In a city of predators
Our Garden of Eden
Was a safe and rare place to go
A home for families…..
A refuge for all

It was Wednesday
I was tired and upset that my students
Cut class once again
On my way to my car
Something told me to turn around
And check on the front door

7 gun shots rang
In the garden of eden
I knew people would panic
So I announced, “Someone’s playing with fire crackers”
To calm the white liberalists in the building
While I ran to the front door
To make sure my kids were safe
My boss closed the door and someone grabbed my arm
Begging me to stay inside

My heart was telling me to check the scene
I saw a young brotha slowly falling to the ground
Young people were running and screaming
Anotha brotha was running down the street with gun in hand

I ran up to the brotha on the ground
He was covered in a pool of blood
He was shot five times in the legs
I placed my hands on two of his gun shot wounds
My hands became covered in his blood
Only bare skin separated my blood from his blood

He was sweating heavily on the forehead
I could see death trapped in his eyes
He tried to get up
I asserted that he stay down

His name was James
In biblical terms, James was the brother of Jesus Christ
In that moment he was my family
And I wanted to use my hands to keep the blood
Inside his body to keep him alive

It was getting cold
My hands were shacking
Twilight was setting
I could smell his blood filling my nose
Then his mother came, screaming and crying

A mother’s cry, a mother’s cry
Almost made me die
And instantly brought tears to my eye
I never want to hear a mother cry
Not knowing if her son is gonna live or die!

Where’s the ambulance?
Where’s the ambulance?
There suppose to arrive within 5 minutes of a 911 call
But in Oakland, where multiple homicides take place at the same time
It took the ambulance 30 minutes to arrive
On top of that, the police arrived in 20 minutes
Didn’t know what the fuck to do
They didn’t even bother touching James
They proceeded to ask questions about the shooter

Fuck the shooter
We’ll deal with that later
Do something, call the ambulance
Apply first aid
Calm the situation down motha fucka!!!
I only got two hands and James got 5 gun shots to his legs

This is your family
This is your child
This is your blood
Don’t run away
Don’t close your window blinds
Don’t lock your doors
Whatcha gonna when gun shots ring
In the garden of eden?

Disenfranchisement speaks out in violence
Hunger and poverty rings gun shots in the garden of eden
The ambulance, the police, the media reporters
The capitalist circus act with lights, sirens, microphones, video cameras
Only come out when we validate the Willie Lynch syndrome

We kill each other in desperation and survival
The government uses our tax dollars to document our own demise
whenever gun shots ring in the garden of eden

gun shots are also felt in the bull shit classrooms our children are subjected to
gun shots are also felt through the sexist and homophobic remarks
our children learn in misguidance or ignorance
gun shots are felt on a Friday or Saturday night,
when we’re faded or loaded at a club
and a brotha grabs a sista’s booty
gun shots ring when we judge or turn a blind eye
when the cops point guns at an innocent child’s eye
gun shots are felt when the media lies multiple times,
eventually convincing us that lies are truths, stereotypes are truths,
gun shots are the invincible boot of oppression
smashing down on all of our necks

what you gonna do
when gun shots ring in the garden of eden
what you gonna do
when gun shots ring in the garden of eden
gun shots in the garden of eden
gun shots in the garden of eden