Whether Or Not The Castle Falls

WHETHER OR NOT THE CASTLE FALLS

Verses and Photography by Exxuendo

No Shoot Zones Concept by Tyree Colion Moorehead 

Graffiti by Tyree Colion Moorehead and Other, Unknown Thinkers

ONE

Methinks when Armageddon hits

It may be time you call it quits

Do close the book, put down the phone

And hie thee to a No Shoot Zone.

A No Shoot Zone may serve one well

Or not . . . 

Should break loose all of Hell.

TWO

As refuge goes, this one is clear

Should fan be struck, bring yourself here

As we’re not likely all to fit

You’d best be pretty g.d. quick.

THREE

Where chaos reigns and peace is moot

It’s good to know where they won’t shoot

Where peace is mute and chaos rains

Be certain there to stake your claim.

FOUR

At first, I thought my verses cunning

But surfeit puts an end to funning

All give way to hope, delirious

Forced to deem these words most serious

Mezuzah not, nor innocent charm

Instead, impotent fear of harm

Charged words reversed upon the door

Amused me once; I jest no more.


FIVE

Transformative graffiti

Unfolds into a refuge

Air thickens with vendettas

Salvation from the deluge.

SIX

Vanquished senses stripped and bare

Shaved and marched down the thoroughfare

Whether or not the castle falls

We see the writing on the wall.

SEVEN

Walls that mock a mood for violence

Rome burns to the strains of violins

Epicenters seen through vile lens

Prophesy becoming cleansed.

EPIPHANY

While fools mock with alacrity

A soul’s profound veracity

Naïve impulse from synapse boosts

To give life to arcane mots justes

The merest wisdom we might find

May be that which can free Mankind.

AFTERWORD

This book more or less chronicles a waking process.

An outsider, I am complicit in the eye-rolling that surrounds Baltimore’s sometimes absurd quirks.
The City’s No Shoot Zones became a target of my mirth before they became a target of intelligent
inquiry.  For this, I apologize.

My ridiculous intention was to send a calendar of numerous No Shoot Zones to my family in
another state with poems reminiscent of “Chicken Soup with Rice.” 

But the No Shoot Zones are no joking matter.  

My epiphany occurred when I learned how much more there is to it, thanks to an informative
article written by Paul Gessler of WJZ-TV in December 2019. An ex-gang member and local rapper,
Tyree Colion Moorehead, decided to take a stand against Baltimore’s enormous problem with violence
and designated nearly 200 No Shoot Zones in Baltimore proper and nearby locations. The zones are
often in places where injury or loss of life has already been suffered, but there are gang members
actually heeding Tyree Colion Moorehead’s passionate message.

As a massive clue hit its mark, my thoughts underwent a remarkable change and – boom - just like
that, the tone of my poetry did a complete turnabout. 

Far from absurd, the target of my early condescension turned out to be a powerful mantra appearing
throughout Baltimore.

~ EXXUENDO