Life is a thing most people take for granted For me, life is knowing I love you with every heartbeat Death is a thing most people are afraid of For me, death only means I won’t see you again for a while Love is a thing that means many things to many people For me, love is realizing how much you mean to me Loss is a thing people feel when they lose what’s precious For me, loss is missing you every second you are away Wealth is a thing most people covet but only a few get For me, wealth means nothing ‘cause I treasure you Health is a thing that most people care and fret about For me, health is glowing in the warmth of your care Faith is a thing that makes people believe strange things For me, faith is believing you will always be there for me Values are a thing that makes people what they are For me, our shared values have kept you and me together Friends are a thing that most people cherish For me, friends there are many but you are my best Foes are a thing that bothers most people For me, foes are no bother as long as you’re by my side Joys are a thing that everybody lives for For me, it’s a joy just to spend my days with you Sorrows are a thing that no one ever wishes for For me, sorrows took flight the moment you arrived Dreams are a thing that helps people look forward For me, every dream came true when I first held your hand Hope is a thing that helps people face each new day For me, hope springs anew every day I am with you Life, death, love, loss, wealth, health, faith, values Friends, foes, joys, sorrows, dreams, hopes…. Everyday things that everyone thinks about Every day of my life I only think about you
Month: February 2020
Leaving Home
When I first left my home A young lad of seventeen I could not get farther faster Every new pasture was green When I first left my family Tired of being poor and sad I decided that going away Was the only real chance I had When I first left my city That bore, raised and nurtured me I couldn’t live there another day Its gritty streets forced me to flee When I first left my friends With whom I read, wrote and played I thought I would make new ones But soon my hopes began to fade When I first left my state Whose ways I had imbibed so well I had to find new experiences I had to learn new stories to tell When I first left my country Whose life was the only one I’d known I wanted money, fame, opportunity Oh how impatient I had grown I sit here now, a man with no home No family, no friends, no city, no state No country even to call his own Blaming his doings on innocent Fate “You only leave home once,” A wise man had said to me In a world that is full of people There’s no one left to hear my plea
Tell Me How*
Tell me how you will come for me Will you skulk quietly in the still of the night Like a thief tiptoeing on padded feet Trying desperately to stay out of sight Tell me how you will come for me Will you march in splendor, a carnival queen With fanfare and glitz, sound and fury Making quite sure you’re both heard and seen Tell me how you will come for me Will you be an assassin with your dagger drawn Primed to perforate with your poniard of pain And ensure my agony will forever drag on Tell me how you will come for me Will you bring with you an armload of reels To play me the movie that was my own life And show me how the real denouement feels Tell me how you will come for me A priest with cap, turban, collar or cloth To petition me to regret, repent, rue and pray For salvation from a life of sin, vice and sloth Tell me how you will come for me Whatever you do, please don’t end me violently While old age and disease are most unpleasant I’d rather not be a statistic, a daily tragedy Tell me how you will come for me Will you come as I know you - hood, scythe and mask If you dispatch me with a quick coup de grâce I shall follow you gladly, do everything you ask Tell me how you will come for me Will you be the one beautiful face I want to see Will you be the one helping hand that holds me Will you make it a pleasure for me to cease to be
Sand Pit
You created me in your own image You manufactured myths about me You invented me to serve your evil ends In my name you enslaved the free You conceived me so you could inflict The worst injustice on your fellow men You fabricated me so you could atone for The sins you commit with your sword and pen You concocted me so you could fight The bloodiest wars anyone has seen You contrived me so you could slight Those different from you as hadean You devised me so you could divide Nation and people, sister and brother You designed me so you could bestride Each one you pitted against the other You forged me so you could legitimize Your brazen acts of cowardice You framed me so you could aggrandize Your shameless, limitless avarice You engendered me so you could denigrate Followers of other faiths as “infidel” You constructed me so you could celebrate The merciless ringing of their death knell No matter, dear child, I will let you play Your cruel games in your sand pit But please remember, on judgment day It’s going to hurt just a wee little bit
I Alone
(Please forgive the patois. I kinda had to resort to it. Hope you’ll see why.)
Take me to ma home man Take me to ma home I feel I alone man I feel I alone I gone to America man I gone to America I live life fit fuh king man I live life fit fuh king Den one day it all change man One day it all change Alla dem actin’ strange man Alla dem actin’ strange Dey elec' dis big asshole man Dey elec' dis big asshole De country it los' it soul man De country it los' it soul Can’t live dey no mo' man Can’t live dey no mo' I land in Jamaica man I land in Jamaica Paradise on Earth man Paradise on Earth But you gots to take good cay man You gots to take good cay Too much drugs out dey man Too much drugs out dey Man kill man for penny man Man kill man for penny I los’ a friend too many man I los’ a friend too many Can’t live dey no mo' man Can’t live dey no mo' Nex' to Trinidad man Nex' to Trinidad Bes’ time evah I had man Bes’ time evah I had Woman dey big eye man Woman dey big eye Nah safe fuh no guy man Nah safe fuh no guy Dat place not fuh me man Dat place not fuh me Not ma cup of tea man Not ma cup of tea Can’t live dey no mo' man Can’t live dey no mo' Full circle to India man Full circle to India Country of my birth man Country of my birth Life here nah so bad man Life here nah so bad But you gots to be a cad man You gots to be a cad Dey tells you what to eat man Dey tells you what to eat You eat it or get beat man You eat it or get beat Can’t live dey no mo' man Can’t live dey no mo' I feel I alone man I feel I alone Take me to ma home man Take me to ma home
