Let’s Make Music

Retro microphone on stage in restaurant. Blurred background

I wanna make music
tonight
I wanna sing
for you
Don’t ask me to metaphor into bunny rabbits
cause I ain’t up here to do tricks for you
I am up here to sing
for you
I am here
to make music
to make
melody
you ask me
why I don’t show my face
why my performance can’t be seen by yo physical eyes
but this here aint no show
I got no tricks of the trade to show you
these words aint cropped to fit your opinion
they aint photo shopped to enhance your feelings
but I know how visual you people are
how you wonder about signs and wonders
so you wonder
why I won’t baptize my poetry
behind the lens of your cameras
have I fallen from the horse of couplets and closed forms?
maybe
I’ve just C-sectioned my Spoken Word to reveal my insides
besides
I’ve got to have some kind of gut
to stand up here and strip for you
just let me be real for you
let me calm you
let these words heal you
and let’s make music
a cleft
a time signature
a note
a rest
a song
a stepping stone
to play just the right scripture
to guide us back to the music sheet
just let me stand here
let me be here
and
just let me sing
for you

Grown Enough

pexels-pixabay-248021
Photo by Pixabay
pexels-pixabay-248021
Photo by Pixabay

She has a secret

that she just does not want to grow up

If she could just make it to 21

drink her liver half-dead

and tell Hennessy he’s the one

he makes her forget she’s had too much

but maybe she just hasn’t had enough

to make her realize that her friends are gone 

when nothing’s left

and the taste she feels on her tongue

is the Similac on her breath

telling her stomach to cough up the dance 

she just had with death 

Look sis, I know you think it cool

but your stomach’s not fit for this kind of food

and that boy on the corner ain’t in love with you

You are just a lot more convenient than McDonald’s

cause he can have his way with you

and you’re probably just hearing this for the first time

cause nobody’s ever told you it always hurts the first time

This

grown-up stuff

She said she just wants to be

grown enough

Her ambition is for time to sit still

Never reaching the point of crazy debt 

and large bills

If she could always stay somewhere between 

Dora the Explorer and pink heels

maybe this lump in her throat she would’ve never had to feel

If someone could have just told her that growing up is over-rated

And in this world without YAH you’re a nobody 

who’s never made it

Your childhood crying away cause you played it

Cause you rushed yourself into a place 

that’s not so puffed up

Trust little girl when I tell you

You’ll never quite be just

grown enough

History vs. Truth

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I would actually like to write more on this topic at a later date. But for now, enjoy this word:

“One is astonished in the study of history at the recurrence of the idea that evil must be forgotten, distorted, skimmed over. We must forget that George Washington was a slave owner….and simply remember the things we regard as credible and inspiring. The difficulty, of course, with this philosophy is that history loses its value as an incentive and example; it paints perfect men and noble nations, but it does not tell the truth.” – W.E.B. Dubois

Cheating on my other Blog

pbscheating

Okay. I admit it. I am not as faithful as I should be. I am cheating on my other blog.

Oh, c’mon, don’t look at me like that; we have all been there.

But, dear blog, if you’re listening, I didn’t mean to hurt you; I just can’t stop thinking about ThePBSBlog.

Plus, you don’t entice me to your dashboard the way you used to. Let’s face it your updates are so in-between we never see each other. And then there’s ThePBSblog…with its amazing followers, inspiring quotes and articles, beautiful poetry, and simple design.

We are up all night drafting potential blog posts together, and before I know it, I am in over my head.

It took a moment before I realized I was seeing PBS on the side. I’m sorry ahouseofpoetry if you’re not getting enough attention. If it is worth anything, I still like you and all. It’s just that what PBS and I have together is, well, a commitment.

And I know this is gonna sound kinda freaky, but I really don’t mind seeing you both. If I have cake, am I not supposed to eat it too?

Dumbing Down Our Kids

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“We the people, of the American educational system, in order to possess docile minds, establish low self-esteem, proper enslaved attitudes, regurgitation of unnecessary facts and a lack of self-defense; promote poverty to those unable to service their own welfare and secure the system of stupidity among ourselves to proliferate your posterity, we will sing songs and graduate in time to add riches to the wealthy, do ordain and establish this Educational System of America.”

Signed, The Educated Fool

Understanding the Revolution

“We must begin to understand that a revolution entails not only the willingness
to lay our lives on the firing line and get killed. In some ways, this is an easy
commitment to make. To die for the revolution is a one-shot deal; to live for the
revolution means taking on the more difficult commitment of changing our
day-to-day life patterns.

~Frances Beal