writing prose
poems
sleeplessly
2:44
a.m.
hyper-driven
send.
Rave About the Butterfly, but You Better Forget About the…
you love my words
just not the heart it comes from
you love my slang
just not the mouth that talks it
you love my style
just not the mind that created it
you love my swag
just not the body that walks it
you love my culture
just not the color that lives it
you love my way of life
just not the blackness that birthed and burdens it
you prefer only half of me
and that ain’t the half of it!
you constructed an America
by enslaving the African
you tell me a history
that isn’t historically accurate
you raped my ancestors
and birthed an accident
you see me ungrateful
if I speak as an advocate
and if roles were reversed…
well just imagine it
because whats been black created,
has only been white endorsed
profiting from the outcome,
while covering up the source
whether in fashion, art and music
or in movies, sports and in court
black people and blackness
have been separated by force
historically, no, traditionally, commitment to black people,
is met with exhaustive cautious association
but when it comes to matters of monetizing blackness
well, we’ve been misappropriated
Traffic’d (Lyrics)
(chorus; repeat twice):
I still got hang-ups I never got rid of
but those are my portraits of family that died
and I can not let go of them
I got a hold of them
they got ahoooold on me
I’m going crazi crazi crazi, like joooodeci
and nobody nooootices
and I am a ghooost to them
but I will not pooose for them
I am no shoooow for them
but sometimes I chauffeur them
but still, I doooon’t fit in
I’m talking emotions
I’m emo I know it
don’t need all the noise
only my voice
cuz I’m paranoid
and I’m in my shell, that’s my decoy!
(verse):
knock knock nobody here
I don’t want traffic
cuz that’s entrapment
now don’t you trap me
cuz it’ll get tragic
and I know tragic
I’m so dramatic
a sober addict
I always stay high, on my own downers
I think I’m drowning
upstream like salmon
the sink is sounding
like water fountains
there’s no more pressure
I’m over counters
promoting boundaries
I poke like outties
my eyes roll like bounty
think my heart is drowsy
think my soul is pouting
think the world is cloudy
think my mind is rowdy
think I’ll find an alley
overdose on Valium
lay inside a valley,
thinking bout the mountains I fell off from
life is a gamble, death is the outcome
your shadows stay glued, you can not outrun
(intermediate bridge):
I still hear voices!
I’m haunted by choices!
I swear it’s too noisy!
I swear I see ghostes!
and they are too nosy!
they know it, I know it, I know it, I know it!
you don’t know, I know it!
(poetic bridge):
and this
is what it sounds like
when you’ve found yourself
while at the same time
losing your way
of life
cuz nothing is no longer as it appeared
the moment
you embraced your fears
and this is me
beginning to realize
the things that I already
but gave no name to
traffic
I need my time alone
(repeat chorus)
Aiming from the Ground (Lyrics)
(chorus/hook):
I been 100
I keep it 100
I’m going a hunned
I move like 300
I know that you wonder
you wonder, you wonder
yuh
I do it
I did it
I done it, I done it
I’m running
I’m jumping
I’m flying
I’m stunting
I’m coming
you don’t know what’s coming
I came up from nothing
you know that I’m something
I’m something, I’m something!
(verse 1):
and I’m aiming for the Lear
and I’m changing like the gears
and I’m framing every year
so my path will stay clear-while I’m
reflecting in the mirror
sometimes the past may seem too near
sometimes it crashes at the rear, yuh
unh
so I have to stay up in this moment
and all that captures me right here
so I stay hands-on with my drive-I don’t veer I only steer
you only jeer but I say cheers
like drinking beer
I’m going cray-Brittney spears
won’t lose my way-Whitney fears
looking out my prison’s windows
was in prison pens and kennels
was in prison incidental
was imprisoned in my mental
get the memo-whoa
pain inside my ventricles
my spirit was my vehicle
that’s what gave me my neo glow
(bridge):
judged me hard, but forgive him he don’t know
I’ve been knee deep in my woes
tryna dig that glittered gold-cuz they say
you reap what you sow
now you know
all that blossoms blooms unfold
so far that story ain’t been untold
enjoy the show
(chorus/hook):
I been 100
I keep it 100
I’m going a hunned
I move like 300
I know that you wonder
you wonder, you wonder
yuh
I do it
I did it
I done it, I done it
I’m rushing
I’m lunging
I’m plunging
I’m hunting
I’m coming
you don’t know what’s coming
I came up from nothing
u know that I’m something
I’m something I’m something
(verse 2):
they don’t know where we came from
they don’t know how we came up
they don’t know how hard that was
swam in mud and draped in blood
empty fridges
on the fringes
in the trenches
crimes committed
don’t know who did
ain’t no witness
lengthy sentence
no forgiveness
no amends and no repentance
pride was bitten like the fruit that was forbidden
they don’t get it
I hear crickets
thank you critics
cuz this my lift off!
used to be pissed off!
used to be pissed on!
used to be kicked on!
now dirt kicked up!
got the rocks off, wit new kicks ons
(bridge):
judged me hard, but forgive him he don’t know
I’ve been knee deep in woes
tryna dig that glittered gold-cuz they say
you reap what you sow
now you know
all that blossoms blooms unfold
so far that story ain’t been untold
enjoy the show!
WayOfLife
Black Cotton
black sheep, black sheep
how are you seen?
black sheep, black sheep
what do you see?
black sheep, black sheep
have ye any wool?
yea, it’s on my body, not my eyes!
pssh! I ain’t a fool!
States of Mind
I can’t tell my state of mind when I write
I have so many states of mind that I write
there’s many states of mind I try to right
my states of mind can’t place the time when I write
my states of mind:
sated, sedated, and satiated in stated lines
my states of mind:
quakes and hides
shakes and chimes
fakes and lies
framed, disguised
wades and tides
waves and rides
rains and shines
chained and shrined
changes sides
chases time
vain with pride
base desires
breaks and wired
taints and geysers
paints and fires
taped and fibered
grated iron
great and dire
aims, misfires
stays, expires
so you see,
I’m dissociative and split
and that’s not even the half of it
I’m up, down, around, plus a round
and its hard to remember what’s been said, or how I sound
because my mind doesn’t like to repeat or replay
it only exists in the now…
or denial
my states of mind:
vast and broad as an ocean
constantly in motion
impulsive
borderline compulsive
but my intellect cloaks its exposure
my imagination grants its composure
therefore, blesses me with intuition and closure
and though it breaks, it makes me stronger,
because it’s very weight, is still heavy upon my neck and shoulders
as I go forth in this world as a roamer
procuring more wisdom than my molars
and I’m WayOfLife,
its proud owner!
-Way-