Prisoner of Love

We live in a time where
Even those who are free in the body
Still stand paralyzed in the mind like
Physically emancipated but
Mentally incapacitated
Walking with heads held high but can't see the clouds
How can you see the rainbow?
How can you find the light at the end of the tunnel
When even your perception is tunnel visioned?
Stagnant reality keeps fantasies dying from
Suffocated entrapment
No one to fight for the cause
Locked down in lockdown
With solitary confinement
And the heart of the mind is being dragged
To the hole
People so afraid to open up their hearts
That their emotions become prisoners unjustly
Past crimes committed by felonious thieves of love
Stealing the hopes of those who wish to have a chance
At happiness
So who gets the hardest time?
They who know the truth and want to liberate those
Who stand behind the bars of life
They who plan prison breaks of the incarcerated
Plotting the details of breaking into the compound
And freeing the souls held hostage
So how long will you be captive?

Knowledge To Survive

Knowledge To Survive

(from the book, The Midnight Hybrid)

This was written for Black History Month in 2011.

I decided for Black History Month

To speak about someone who without a shadow of doubt

Impacted African American history

His name is Knowledge

Knowledge

Broken down when I was a youth

I was told that knowledge meant

To know the ledge

Apparently, it was forgotten

Because now many are no longer toeing the edge

But rather doing swan dives into the cycling promise

That dates back to times of prehistory

The wealth of the planet which laid bountifully

In the heart of the place we call the Motherland

Is now being mined in such a horrific way

That hundreds and thousands are dying each day

Yet, despite all of their pains and struggles

They hold pride in their homeland and band like a muscle

Before, drums were beat to tell stories and messages

Villages sending signals and tribesmen chanting

Now drums are beating to play mess to us

Ignorance is glorified through obscene ranting

And you wonder to yourself

Where is our distinction?

What once was held by our kings and queens

Has died through the years and is now rarely seen

It was knowledge

Before the Greeks knew of their many deities

And classified and categorized the stars in the sky

The pharaohs aligned their pyramids to them

And while civilizations negotiated and bartered with gold

Our ancestors played with it, and wore it from head to toe

But now

While the rest of the world uses it for great feats

We kill one another to wrap it around our teeth

Now before you say that what you are reading is so dumb

Have you ever thought about what we are leaving for our sons?

More time is spent working hard to buy them Christmas gifts

Yet they don’t even know what the meaning of Christmas is

And to many

February is so unnecessary

That we think of Valentine’s

And black history is second memory

There should be more than twenty eight days

Because there is much that we aren’t getting

But instead of seeking knowledge

Candy and cards are being mentioned

It was knowledge

Helping former slaves to find freedom

And turn around to risk their lives to help people

To get out of the chains and shackles keeping them down

For us to feel like we arrived because we are wearing chains now

It was our ancestral rhythm that took a beat and added words

Made metaphors out of simple phrases and verbs

Able to change the heartbeat by playing a song

Formed lyrics to inform everyone about the wrongs

But now all you hear about are flashy clothes and foolish things

Fast women and cars and claiming themselves kings

But when the lights go out and the jewelry no longer shines

In their world

They remain a slave in their own minds

Instead of shaking the system

Women are shaking their behinds

We live in a society where it pays to do a crime

In the corner

I see a brother being called names

Because he speaks to his peers about making a change

And he asks

“Are you making a difference, or part of the cycle?”

Brothers continue walking by

And women scour their magazines like hair bibles

And you can hear their words

“Oh, he thinks he’s so righteous?”

“Who does he think he is?”

“It’s my life, and I like it.”

Instead of seeking growth, they look at him as a criminal

So instead of seeing hope, they continue to live subliminal

It was knowledge

That showed us how to write out our thoughts

And then poetry came forth

People learned how to put feelings into scripts

And write stories to read

Leaving lessons as treasures for generations to heed

But now the language is broken

No more punctual markings

No more grammar in sentences

Just foul language and text-talking

And our spelling is trash

But you start to get mad when I

Ask for your degree and wonder how you passed

There’s no judging or showing

No stones to be throwing

But the knowledge is missing and the people aren’t growing

While you say we’re evolving

We are really dissolving

And the future generations will be waste as we call it

And I know you might be mad and hate what you are reading

But do you know this is a cry and right now we are pleading?

This isn’t bashing on you

This is sorrowing for we

Take the blinders from your eyes and hopefully you will see

That the way things are now doesn’t always have to be

You can live at peace outside and inside be mentally free

Take a moment to step outside

Look at the world and you will know

That the ledge we are on

Is also to help us grow

If we make a change

With knowledge, you can survive.

Know the ledge, so you can serve the hive.

Anytime, Anyplace (Link included for music)

Anytime, Anyplace (Orchestra Instrumental)

I want to share my love like
Walking up to you in the kitchen
And whispering something in your ear
That will have your spine twitchin

And before you can ask any questions
You will turn to see that I am gone
Leaving you to reminisce
On our private discretions

Playing games with your mind
As I continue my mental gameplay
Calling you just to tell you
That I know that you're fine

Whisper things that
Nobody else needs to hear
Except for you and me
As your throat clears

Play with your emotions
Up to the time for your lunch
Which when you get outside
You get inside of your car and then clutch
On the steering wheel
As my words invade you

Are my words taking affect?
Are the things that I said
Beginning to sway you?
Are your knees beginning to betray you?

I hope nobody else sees
I want to drive you crazy
Have you so out of control
That you whine
When I just call you
Baby

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