This Revolution

Before the revolutionary comes first the revolution
Recognition of a problem; cognition of a solution
For the first revolution erupts in the field of mind
The ensuing action is a second footstep from behind
Even God in His New Testament first observes a man's heart
Where all the issues of life, subsequently his actions, start

Revolution of the mind gives birth to the needed force
The man manifested just to run the change's course
He is the revolution, a bird only called forth to spread
Revolution must first live before it can ever be dead

Once saddened by our ignorance, that I can no longer be
For this revolution presses on, knowing it wasn't me

Remember Me, My Harsh Teachers! (Part I)

Heaviness of white oak bokkens; polish of a secret love's strokin'/
Grip fit to leave gloves smokin'; strength to leave bonds of blood broken/
I came, giant amongst titans, in writin', fightin' with a light pen/
Greater than a sword's might then, but limited by my insight when/
I'd bare a slight grin, incitin' conflict to test the mighty ones/
See the Eros of my ways, like Aphrodite's son, and rightly run/
Nope... that was my process: takin' hits that would bend Colossus/
With logic, take seat at the feat of the great ones as a project/

Seeking advice, my only instruction was to fight, invite the strain/
I took up the Ghost Rider's chains until my lines connected plain/
Questioned the conquerors leavin' me breathin'... found that was the reason/
Communication was encoded like the child of a prophesy teethin'/
Like I was something to believe in, for me such a unique feelin'/
Felt my confidence begin healin', like a fatherless girl I was reeled in/
The battlefield was real then, a wide selection of swords, no shieldin'/
The best defense was killin'; the guild didn't know what it was buildin'/

I remember... the first time I went to bed and slept with victory/
Meant something, because the odds predicted proved so contradictory/
I fought a legend... fought so hard we lost direction in the battle/
Fought so hard it put me on the map with a star and my own capital/

We crashed swords and an X marked it, pupil-to-pupil eyes on the target/
I pushed off with a monopolizing strength, and cornered the market/
Rushed in where he was baitin', I had a change of heart and made room/
He was back with the blade soon, to see this fish filleted they assumed/
Like a knight, he obeyed the moon and cut a fluorescent crescent/
Through my shirt, I came out unhurt, bare-chested, "Is that your best hit?"/
On my hip I kept a sheath; I dipped in like a Renaissance artist/
I told him, "Try that move again, and you'll see where your 'body part' is..."/

That's when the fight started, like a deaf sprinter missing the gunshot/
This guillotine came from behind, almost finished me off with one shot! /
I was shook, a cat in a tree in a breeze from the Pacific/
In hurricane season, the force off this fighter's swing was terrific!/
Death in the cards, I found my technique refreshed with a quickness/
Stole the speed to intercept, my heart pumped with Mercury sickness/
I raised my sheath and he knicked it, snatched out my blade then I twisted/
Ripped through the sheath and sword, then showed him the way that I kicked it/
Right in his chest, he lifted, as if he had tried to catch a rocket/
I dropped my weapon... felt like my shoulder had popped out the socket/
No power left, I picked up with my right and the judges stopped it/
Told me I should save my strength to spit verses on other topics.../

I Kept My Strut

Dirt matches my shirt
But I don't have a tree to lean on
Nothing is green in the machine
I can't stretch with no space
Must I get used to this place
My pants have ashed and faded
But I feel so old... they still fit
These big, clumsy feet have walked
Shoes with stories can almost talk
Nowadays, my Afro weighs
So I got it cut, but kept my strut
And people's eyes wide with surprise
Each time, I forget the why's
Then realize I'm not the same
To them

In Darkness (My Mind Doesn't Wander)

Gravity must love me; many morns I don't understand how I rise
Heavy burden across the skies, still the surrounding land dries
Living dead, eyes rolled back in my head, away from the visual lies
The best compliment that a man can receive nowadays is, "He tries"

Tries to stay pure, with fresh succubus present to meet every urge
Attempts to recline from the suicide, standing every day on the verge
Resists the flame of rage, with so many morbid landscapes to purge
As slit-eyed dragons happily converge, like the nine tails of a scourge

When every child appears as by virgin birth with no father to please
And every man's temperament is measured in absurdity of degrees
The peace keepers keep swords; the lovers of the world keep sheaths
No roots in the inner cities, they've done away with all the trees

Our heroes, mere soldiers of fortune; our villains, Salem witches
I live only as some great shadow in this land of pale existence
The strong ones seek a mental escape, some substance in substances
The Valley of the Shadow of Death, they bring their life within inches

Any given night, buried beneath the comforter, my mind doesn't wander
Blank images of pitch, outside of which, only ugliness to ponder
A nymph might bound across my stream, but I make no effort to bond her
As I offer confessions in darkness to the High Priest for a launder

Houses of Asthma, A Controversy

It's not my favorite of them all, but I'm especially proud of this poem. Written about 2 years ago, it's a commentary on American slavery, agrarian society, and Black poverty.

Peep

Whatchu you mean we’ve got asthma; something’s terribly wrong
When I heard that our forefathers were so strong
That they carried this land on their backs
I don’t believe they were prone
To asthma attacks

They sang songs that hung on the air of the field, refusing to yield
As they slaved, salvation weighing heavy on hearts
Now I hear my people’s voices don’t sing
They rasp with empty bellows
And shallow coughs

“I thought that we had come so far! I thought we’d gotten stronger!
We’ve left the fields! What’s left for us to conquer!”
Conserve your breath; please understand
While an enemy exists
It’s not the land

It was neither labor nor the fields our forefathers struggled against
They sought to gain the liberties of common men
To freely choose the work of any sphere
Not to say to the field
No longer here

The fields are free; the master has been slain; the whip is silenced
An option have the fields become; our fear of them is unsound
A handicap we’ve put upon our choices
So now we sleep in tenements
With roaches’ poison

Inspired by Her...

Another oldie-but-goodie. Written in June of 2006. Inspired by... it's hard to say, actually. I was writing from the figurative mental image of a Nefertiti... but not exactly. Oh well.

Enjoy

Inspired by her...
Inspired by her lips
Words fall on my tympanum
I'm inspired by the drips

Inspired by her...
Inspired by her eyes
I'm a wonder in her mind
I can see the fireflies

Inspired by her...
Inspired by her smile
Bless my night with crescent moon
To illuminate the Nile

Inspired by her...
Inspired by her form
Shaped in script and set in stone
Soft as desert sand so warm

Inspired by her...
Inspired by her blues
If I drown in salty sea
May the morning change her hues

Apple Blossom (Inspired by Marisa Tomei)

This is easily my favorite of all the poems I've written to date. It was written about a year ago; currently, it's being adapted into a song. I love telling the story of how the idea came to me: I merely looked at a picture, bit into an apple, and *poof*... instant classic.

Enjoy

She's a flower of such promise, so high up over my head
But what I could never hold, I'll enjoy with my eyes instead
Her essence is the fresh scent of an anticipated fruit
But her beauty even as a shoot was crowning to her roots---
If only time would permit, before those roots I’d gladly stand
Extend my hand, give my red apple a gentle place to land
I’d treat my eyes; for a smile I'd wrap and buff her to a shine
But knowing time, I wouldn't waste one single moment with mine
Take her in with wandering nibbles, enjoy her as my treat
To bite is too forward; such sweet is meant to taste, not to eat
…Maybe I can’t resist having one moment of surrender
With such vibrant flavor bursting just beneath skin so tender
Render, to very center, where our cinders meet honeydew
We peek into quenched embers as a future comes into view
One or two; I kneel to plant, remembering that blessed blossom
---From my dream I wake to see time has made her no less 'ossom

Giants (For the Conscious to Enjoy)

We walk as giants among men
Never asking to be looked up to
Ever careful where we step
Yet never quite fitting in
Malnourished from humanity's plate
Ever bound to uplifted standards
Thinking great thoughts man can understand
But that his brain will never encompass
We grasp at higher concepts
And break them down to the masses
We are feared, admired, but never ignored
Our method of might surpasses sword
The children congregate in our prints
And even hide inside our shadow for shade
From here we see with other perspective
And also see all other perspectives
Lust and pride drive men to wars
Our heads sit high above the skirmish
And wrestle with the driving forces
We neither seek crowns nor thrones
But know it is with purpose that we've grown
To walk as giants among men