Soul Sippin'

brown summer skin, i tell you i ain’t no gigolo
imma be upfront, no hiding behind subliminals
giving you the best that i’ve got, effort is the minimal
stolen my heart, girl, i’ve been hit by a smooth criminal
you don’t have to give it back, just relax
stretching myself out for you like some jumping jacks
i think that you’re the one, an opinion or just a fact?
if not, you are the prototype, word to 3stacks
we both outkasts from a different world
whitley and dwayne, we’re like a ying-yang pearl
here together, let your soul-glo like a jheri curl
look up as we watch our ribbon in the sky twirl
it’s always so hard to say goodbye like cooley high
school of hard knocks, graduating with you by my side
my source for aviation, the reason i believe I can fly
my motivation, we can conquer the world, you and I

-

see you trying to be healthy with the spicy hummus and pita bread
you cried when Q lost his grip as Bishop fell from the ledge
as we snuggled, my heart felt the thoughts up in your head
i still cling to that moment, wishing you never left the bed
see something happen, your faith changed up our plans
you went on a world tour with muhammed, your man
tears in the palm of my hand, religion i didn’t understand
i had to let you go, im still was your number one fan
wherever you went, I followed you like twitter
you said I should follow allah and that made me bitter
i watched over you while he was gone like a babysitter
now that he got you back, i can’t get over these cold shivers
but Im thankful for your peace of mind and happiness
you still pray for me and all of this sappiness
you still pray for me and I’m admiring your cleanliness
don’t wait for me, but I will always celebrate and praise your tenderness

Hey.
Did we ever wanted this enough?
Dissolved diamonds into the rough.
We were complexed heroes,
Never fought the ghosts of our egos.
A penny that wasn’t spent in one place,
We moved our bodies with expressionless pace
Did you ever wanted more?

Were we scared of the heights?
Couldn’t afford the fall of the price.
Did the view scared you too?
Face-to-face with all the things we knew.
Safe to leave with what we came for,
The same ol’, same ol’.
Did you ever wanted more?

Pull into this, I want to be near.
I want to hold love
With the same palm as my fears.
The same ol’ same needs to change,
Let the blood rush through our veins.
I want to be loud
When I call out your name.
Skin-to-skin yet we feel so far
Let’s share our thoughts and number the stars.
Let’s share the space of here
I want to be near.

Living just enough for the city

I’m living just enough for the city

My city has been my bed

Life is just a dream

I’m hoping the Grim Reaper’s alarm clock doesn’t wake me up

My brother has been stressed, ya’ll

Before breakfast, he bakes it up

When you’re down, you seek out some sort of height of elevation

Recently, he lost of all of his motivation

Nineteen, and his past charges got him arrested,

Cuffed to a life of unemployment

Every application teases him with

“Have you ever been arrested for a crime?”

They put it there for their enjoyment, a trick question

Because they know they won’t hire him

He once put “No”, they found out and fired him

Funny, ironically he was the best worker

Now he’s contemplating about pivoting around to post up on the block

Build muscle with bodyguards who used to be athletic jocks

My mama told him to stop getting acquainted with the cops

Yea, we’re poor people

But we were rich in love

And we can’t afford to bail you out just because you want to be a thug

That morning, my brother

Still felt like he was now just another scrub

Living in a dream

A nightmare is what is seemed

This city is his bed

The streets used to be his pillow

Trying his best 

Not to wake up

With his face in that pillow

The sword of compassion
Can be a very powerful weapon.
Persuasive and zealous.

An extension of yourself
Unable of detachment.
Maybe, tucked in
But it can’t be dropped.

Persuasive and zealous.
Only discipline can wield the hilt
With the most control.

Be mindful
To what you believe in.

Know your weapon.
Know your target.
Know the forces in between.

Have faith.

If I did it for the love
Then, I did it for my peeps.
Never did it for the thugs
But I did it for the streets.
When I got my first job
I quit that first week.
Left my last church, Pastor said
“Son, you’re making Jesus weep”.
The young and blissful days
Are the ones that I wish that I can keep.
Had an affirmation for gold
But I never had it on my teeth.
I’ve bitten off more of my fair share of beef
More than I could eat.
Never got robbed 
But a sucka tried to chump me for my necklace piece.
Shout outs to Ron Artest.
I get elbowed by the thoughts of World Peace.
Shout outs to the stress
It’s steady trying to creep.
Yo, I’ve climbed many mountains
Just to reach the peak of my beliefs.
I’ve busted my ass a few times
Those falls was pretty steep.
I miss my grandma, ya’ll
I see her in my sleep.
I want to write about her
But I’m scared to get deep.
I want to write a daily journal
But what if that shit leaked?
I want to roam in the grass
But there’s too much concrete.
Favorite player John Starks
‘94, Game 7 was kinda weak
I really wanted to be a rapper but
figuratively I can never stay on beat.
And I’ve been mad at God
I hope I forgive him before we meet.
My life is a mess
I guess it’s pretty boring when it’s neat.
Those were my random thoughts
This is who I be.

I heard you was blowing up
More pieces
More art exhibits
I’m sorry that my absence showed up

Whenever I had a performance
You was front row showing love
I guess I’m narcissistic
Our relationship wasn’t realistic
They said that I had an angel
But I was throwing up 3 sixes
Crossing you over like number 3 — A.I. with the Sixers
You gained some some Artificial Intelligence
Now you chuckin’ up the dueces
Saying you ain’t Ashanti — you ain’t singing “Foolish”

I guess we will never be cool like that
Or chill like that
But are we at peace like that?

Anyways,
Well wishes on your artifacts

I’m just passing through

Appla

I think of you as a tree, Appla

I think of you as a tree
A very, very, very tall tree.
A tropical tree
That does it’s best sequoia-like impression
Of penetrating the sky
With the height of five-foot and whole-lotta-something-inches.

There must be a deep heavy mass of stories in your Trini roots
That creates this strong gravitational force around you.
You reach up as your crop-top sheds light from your solar plexus
And Heaven to bows to meet you and your fitness.

You’re a sexy tree, aren’t you?
But Hell also wants to get close to you.
Extract the nutrients of your sap.
Sip a lil bit of a dose from you.

Makes you moody.
To go up against the wind,
Should you wear your branches and leaves out today?

You hold today in hostage
And forced it witness of your seasons.
Your summer smile, spring growth
Autumn humbleness and winter cold.

I look up to you adamantly
As if everyday is hot and scorching
And your shade
Would be the best thing to ever happen to me.
I yearn to climb you, swing in your branches
And be the best Tarzan that I can be.
Take off my hipster coolness
And be the hippie tree-hugger.
Sink my bite into your fruit
And hope you leave me stickiest as possible.
(That may be a metaphor But I don’t think trees understand metaphors)

I’ve known selfish monsoons
And I know water is essential to life,
But too much of anything
Is not a good thing.
So, maybe your canopy can shield me
And feed me the exact proportions I need.

I wrote this poem for you.
Maybe this poem was more about me
Wanting to carve in my heart into the bark of your herstory.

love is the language that I speak
love is heaven at it’s highest peak
over distance, love will reach
with it’s guidance, love will teach

love swings low
embraces from head to toe
from front to back
to the future and past
there isn’t a place that love won’t go

love has no questions
love is full of answers
before love I didn’t move
love made me into a dancer

love is swift
but it take it’s time
love, i call out your name
love, you call out mine

love is an action
my love is a verb
love is a noun
my love is with her

listen
understand my dimensions
she was enough work for me to retire with a pension
im writing about our barriers, the fences
like I’m August Wilson
i was Markham and Eglinton
she was Jane and Wilson
i read so much Nikki Giovanni
my Ego was constantly trippin
i shut her out, dawg, with the silent treatment
wasn’t paying attention
assumed she was just bitchin
if i was an atheist, she was a religion
more like a Goddess
swagged out but still modest
didn’t make it to university but she finished college
and that ain’t no reflection of her knowledge
i’m just saying she had her fair share of the wear and tear
now she’s so polished
i felt she needed freedom
and my hold had to be abolished
but she’s gold ya’ll
golden with glow
i had to ease up on my control
let her go against the flow

—

[Yea, it was kinda short and more like a rap, but allow it cuz I’m just trying to catch up on the 30/30 thing]