I woke up some days past.
I felt different
I reached back with my arm
And I felt something bony and feathery
Or rather, two things bony and feathery
I got up in a hurry.
I thought I had become an angel.
Someone must have sung I need an angel
And God said I will give you Michael.
I started to fly
At first it was slow and wobbly
But I started to soar.
I just wished there was a Bat signal
Like a Mike signal or something.

I thought I saw something
Or rather a crime.
I said its time for me to shine
Hope these wings can stop bullets
Because they would have to today.
I descended rapidly.
I was shocked I didn’t catch on fire or that my wings did not break.
I went to the man with the gun and said stop
He asked who sent you and I said I was sent from above
And I am all that you fear
I tackled him to the ground.
I heard Cut by a very angry person and I saw a director
He said who the hell do you think you are?
This is the new Dragon-Man vs Shark-Devil movie
I said My bad and flew away.
I left the crime fighting to the professionals.

When I was in another land
As a boy of a decade in age.
In another decade
My family brought fish for me.
I even named them names
Based off of my favorite tv shows.
This one is Jason, this one is Arthur.
Every day when I would look at them
They would be swimming
Happy fish
And I was glad to see them

But one day I saw them
They were not swimming
They were not happy
And I was not happy
Because these fish looked still.
I wondered what was going on.
I asked my uncle what happened.
He told me that they were sleeping
And in order for them to be awakened
They would have to be flushed down the toilet
Because they would only wake up if they were seen by their mother
Who was in the sea
And the toilet was the quickest way to get to them
I told him that I would miss them
And that I was not a mother but I could be a father
But if that is how they would wake up.
Then I would flush them.

So I scooped them out of the fish tank
Very carefully.
I did not want the mom to be mad at me.
She would think I was mistreating her children
Then I laid them in the toilet
And flushed.
Goodbye Jason.
Goodbye Cyclops
Goodbye Storm
I hoped the mother was as happy to see them
As I was happy to have them.

You continue life by breathing in oxygen, I do it via spitting verbs.
My white blood cells make up the paper of my written words.
The pen is the umbilical cord that feeds the paper with sustenance.
I never stutter since these words are alive because of my utterance.
So when it is ready to deliver, I am always standing ready
But instead of leaving you, these verses stay where your head be.
I go with the pads like a football player, but its not a game.
Poetry called me from a young age, and I never forgot its name.
Its like when lighting strikes and turns someone into the fighting type.
Because I try to make sure my lines more than live up to the hype.
These words march together, and each words makes all better.
Because even when I breath my last this poetry will live forever.

The Lady of the Lake tried to sooth the young king.
She said she will give him a weapon that would beat everything.
She pulled him underwater, and Arthur was shocked to have breath
The Lady of the Lake said that this scabbard would ward off death

He took the sword in his hands and slowly wondered
If this was like the lightning bolts from the God of Thunder.
The Lady of the Lake said that the scabbard was power.
And under the might of Arthur's weapons all men would cower

The Lady of the Lake said that there was one condition.
He must give her the sword when he left the land of the living
He came up gasping, even though no water was in his lungs.
Arthur started speaking in ancient warrior tongues.

Griflet who was with him was shocked at his lord
Who came up to him with a mighty sword
It seemed the weapon to pierce through Achilles breastplate.
The holder of this sword in battle would surely have the best fate

Arthur and Griflet slowly rowed back to the shore
It was as if they had been to this place before
Arthur held on to his sword as if someone was trying to grab.
A bow and arrow was a good weapon but it could not stab.

Next Arthur had to get a spear, which had a mind for slaughter
The Lady of the Lake watched Arthur leave from the water
Arthur held Excalibur, a weapon fit for a king to slay.
Arthur would hold on until he was stabbed and betrayed.

Have you ever felt that no matter what, you wont quit
Like if Cinderella put on the slipper and the shoe don’t fit.
And her stepsisters barge in and say let me try and put.
The slipper on again because I am sure it was the wrong foot.
Now Cinderella is watching, and her heart is in the grip of fears.
They say they'll break a foot if they have to make the slipper theirs.
To make matters worse, the sister says they would all move on out.
Except for Cinderella, they say she has to care for step mom’s gout.
These sisters would be in the castle, while you remain a servant be
I’m sure Cinderella hoped that something good happen urgently.
None of the sister’s feet fit, and one sister wonders if she could wear it on her face?
By any means she's determined to be sure the shoe fits someplace.
Cinderella thought, Better the face, to cover you up so that other’s cant see.
That thing on top of your neck that is a monstrosity.
But the prince is puzzled, and examines the slipper very closely.
It turns out there is a quarter stuck in it, and so he takes it out.
When Cinderella tries it on again, the shoe fits and there is no doubt.

I don’t need a runway
To take off and be fly
Like Clark Kent
I just look for space and go higher.
And the forces of the earth cannot keep me down.
I get my energy from above.
Because I walk with something on my chest
Some people see it as an S.
The symbol that is always there
Others see it as hope
You believe what you believe
People identity me by what is on my chest
Because they think it makes me superman
When in fact it reminds me what I fight for.
And why I wake up every morning.

There is no other crown in this throne
No attack of the clones
Because I stand back here alone.
This poetry is a stepping stone.
One rock in the building
There is no block in the ceiling
No clock if you awaiting healing
Because a king without jewels for his head.
Is nothing but a tool who is dead.
And to be a thing who is ruler over the unsaid.

It must feel like the loneliest being yet.
But I can handle life without breaking a sweat.
A vet, whose peeves are just pet.
I am all set to believe life without regrets.
I just would not want to get that in a tattoo.
You say bless you when I speak at you.
Excuse me because I might need a napkin.
Because this poetry is so ill that I don't know what happened.

You cannot have the throne without a lineage of royals
Just like you can’t have water over the bridge to toil.
It would be leaving the best in the fridge to spoil
People still try to get under this to rant and rave and troll.
But they don’t know that I’m one of the bravest soul
I may be on the ropes but its just suspension.
So when I get off there is no more tension.
And all these rumors have no foundation so there is no mention.
I take the crown and I don’t know where to put it.
Because the crown is too small and doesn’t fit.

General Tso.
The staple of the community
First we liked hot sauce.
Then we liked fried chicken.
Now we liked them married together
I mean, marinated together.

General Tso’s Chicken.
It is what is on every kids lips
When he goes to certain restaurants.
But I wonder about this General Tso
If he could be real.
He can’t be real.
Because I heard he fed his General Tso’s Chicken
To his men.
And that is how they named it.
I thought, then he must be a turncoat.
Judas Iscariot as general.
Because there is no way anyone can fight
With General Tso’s Chicken in them.

You don’t feel like taking up arms.
You feel like putting your arms down.
To lie down and sleep
As the enemy is charging.
And as soon as you finish eating
You feel hungry again.
I guess General Tso did his job.
The question is, for which side?

I asked her
Do you like me?
She replied.
I’m not a dog person.
I was so stunned
But also amazed that she was forthright.
I wondered if she had a type
The only problem was, that it was out loud
And she heard it.
She turned around
And told me good
Saying, I am a Type A personality.
You are the type that would type fanfiction at Starbucks
And hope that there is Internet there
I thought, Wow she knows me.
She walked away.
I guess I was better off.
I’m happy I did not tell the whole truth
Of who I am.

My lines have controlled substance that will up your heart rate.
Superfly, caught airplanes in my hands and don’t want to depart late.
Because like Clark Kent I was born to be soaring.
I get strength from the sun that rises in the morning
The guns went off, and I made sure that I start straight.
So when people ran up against me, they could not catch.
I went to the finish line, they stayed with the back cameras
Then they tried to make excuses with wack manners.
Those behind were pressed further and lacked answers.
This king got the medal in my hand like Black Panther.
I was in my prime like my first home is Cybertron.
So when I brought the drive, it was vibrant and strong.
Came from the motherland that’s the tribe I’m on.
So when they try to ask me what type of race I’m in.
I’ll say I belong to the race where I'm ahead and winning

I am the one they thought was dead but I got up instead.
I am the poetry inside of the book that you have not  read.
Look inside the cover of me, each word is like a dictionary.
The binding might be scary, but the mind is a visionary.
We are kings and queens, the thing of dreams.
We have powerful voices but instead of singing we scream.
Each line describes the vibes of my various lives.
Because I wrote this section so that you can strive.
I was freed once l left this pen, to exit this page gate.
Some say it was too early, I say I left this cage late.
I’m not exhausted, I just exhausted all my options.
Ice cream without the toppings, Batman without Robin.
So this ink is looking for a page to give it adoption.
To raise it from childhood, make this phrase so wildly good.
Because this poetry can do everything you thought it could.

I want to go to places
Where words fear to go.
And pictures cannot be drawn
Our mouths are not enough
So we speak with our eyes.
But we cannot keep a distance
From people who want to see us
Because their eyes speak too.
And they say, come here, come here.
No need for all that fear.
Because you are in a safe place
That good dreams inhabit.
We were given our sight
So that we could know each other
Better.
So when you are ready.
Be with me, with me.
So that our eyes can have a conversation.
Maybe we'll laugh
Maybe our eyes will tear up
But at least we talked.
Because our eyes were open

You had the audacity to wear my jersey number.
And you could not even defend your home court!
They were calling you another boy wonder.
But son this is called a grown man’s sport

If you want to be the greatness of all time.
You have to have a winning mentality and killer instinct.
There is a reason why that number is mine.
I embodied winner with every jump shot I sinked.

So if you want to be like me you better get another ring.
Monogamy does not work in this basketball game.
Lay your soul, your effort, your life and everything.
And then you will get yourself national fame.

But if you lose again, you will be known as a choke artist.
Who could not win when it most counted.
Because getting to the championship is easy, winning is hardest.
6 times I went to the championship and 6 trophies I  mounted.

You have lost more finals than you have won
I would call that a failing grade
You are more of a nephew to me than a son
Based on the way that you played

Tony the Tiger can have his box.
Full of sugar.
I have my own sugar.
Take that, Tony.
Or should I say, Phony the Tiger
Garfield go in a corner and eat your lasagna.
I have a cane.
No I'm not crippled.
There is nothing wrong with my leg.
How dare you say that.
I have a candy cane!
Not to eat with.
No, no.
My plan is much grander than that.

I will use it as a weapon.
See how its so sharp and pointy.
Those who think it is not so sharp and pointy.
Better keep their opinions to themselves.
In other words, keep your mouth shut.
Bow in the presence of the cane.
The great cane.
Held by the great soldier.
Bow in the presence of a being greater than yourself.
Me, **** in Boots.

It goes with my outfit.
Dressed to **** never became more realer.
Than in my case.
Its Christmas Time.
Time for sleighing.
Or slaying, as I would put it.
My cane is worse than my claws.
Santa better go to Pennsylvania to get all the coal
Because he’s going to need it when I’m done.

Trouser wearers and shorts lovers.
We must put aside our differences.
To fight a new abomination.
Or rather, an old evil in a new form.
This is the male romper.
It almost pains me to say it.
Male and romper in the same breath.
It makes the breath stink.
This isn’t fashion it is from the underworld.
How are you supposed to conduct your male business?
You would have to risk it all
For a bathroom presentation.
To be caught would be awkward
But also justice well deserved.
For wearing the romper
And not thinking of the consequences.
Speaking of consequences, look at the colors!

If you are brave
And don't want your eyes to be corrupted.
Colors which should not be found on anyone.
Colors which say, I don’t have to make bail.
My dad is a lawyer.
It may say that but I would not be caught dead in it.
Speaking of which, I would not even want to be buried in it.
The only use for a romper is to burned.
Then it could be used to actually keep someone warm.

I look at my eyes and they have bags.
They are ready to travel on tour
My eye is also puffy
Like Sean Combs is its real name.
My eye is big.
Like Chris Wallace was when he was alive.
Its starting to be pink
And wanting to collaborate with Eminem.
That must be why I had to see the doctor
I said that I need a doctor
Like Dr. Dre.
I said I'm not afraid because that's the way I am

Wannabe wrote to the judge and said he wanted to proceed pro se.
The judge replied back and said that it was okay.
Not knowing that Wannabe knew less about law than most lawyers forgot
When Wannabe was looking on Amazon, he had an amazing thought.
They said if you wanted to hide something from a black put it in a book.
But he replied to himself, They did not figure that this black would look.
Wannabe figured that he could teach himself the law like school.
He didn’t know that both the professor and the student in this case was a fool.
Finally, and most amazingly, the day for the trial was here.
Wannabe was confident he would win, he did not fear.
He say that the landlord had at his side appointed counsel.
But Wannabe thought that the case hinged on the stronger will.


Wannabe held on to the podium as if he wanted it choked
There wasn’t a single rule of opening statements he hadn’t broken.
Wannabe said To my friends, my enemies, and my haters.
He thought this is my chance to say what wasn’t in the motion papers.
Then Wannabe looked up at the judge and said May it please the court.
This should be both a property dispute and a tort.
Because during my time there, he made me very distressed.
He was both a menace to society and an enemy of progress
The landlord’s lawyer did not object because he was so shocked.
That the law could be so abused, battered and mocked.

Then the landlord’s lawyer called his witness to the stand.
And asked him a very simple direct question.
Wannabe shouted out with a loud cry, “Objection”
Then he said under his breathe for all to hear, “I am not the one”
The judge said that Wannabe’s objection was overruled.
Wannabe said, “Im not a lawyer” and the judge replied, “No one was fooled”.
Wannabe continued to carry on until the judge called him for a conference.
And told him that if he did not behave, his case would be dismissed.
Then it came time for Wannabe and Wannabe said, “I wish to direct-examine me”.
The judge said No you cant do that, and very angrily.
Wannabe had to sit down because he did not have a witness or expert.
Then the judge said that he lost, and Wannabe was especially hurt.

I’m self-employed and I’m not a fan of my boss.
My employee seems to always be at a loss.
When it comes time to pay he wants a check.
But as for me all I want is his honest respect.
He wants to work overtime but there’s no extra pay.
But I as a boss has to come in every single day.
My employee wishes I was not always over his shoulder.
I remember when he wanted one day to be a soldier.
Sick days is on my employee, but I cant afford it.
Because we have to think of what’s more important.
Keep writing and submitting articles to different blogs.
Because when I’m self-employed the boss is never wrong.

Wannabe tried to contact companies to tell his life story.
Saying that his struggles would make for an interesting biography.
When Wannabe would watch gangsta movies, he told people that it was based on him.
He shouted on street corners he moved bricks into this hood, but he wasn’t building mansions.
Wannabe said he had more money than athletes with shoe deals.
Because he said emphatically that money laundering was the new skill.
When people asked him where this money was, Wannabe said it was off-shore.
Because he did not want the federal government to mess with it anymore.
Wannabe claimed that the product he sold was so strong it made people cough.
Listeners shook their heads, telling him that if it was true then something was off.
They said that it sounded like he had bad product that was painful.
He then retorted that Columbians called him the Snow Angel.
But Wannabe could not even point to Columbia on an atlas.
He said it was because he had a girlfriend there he had catfished.
They called up people who Wannabe had said were his henchmen
And those men were confused when they said Wannabe ran with them.
He looked frantic until he said that those men had memory loss.
And that rival Columbians revered him as an enemy boss.
He kept talking, but eventually people stopped paying attention.
When Wannabe was brought up in conversation, he didn’t get a mention

Hershey’s couldn’t create better dark chocolate than we were.
Even though we announced to the world we came out premature.
On the twelfth day of Christmas, God put out a double album.
Because he knew that he would need a second Martin and Malcolm.
I had to spend many moons in a hospital
A happy ending to my story seemed impossible.
I was descended from ancestors who fought on battlefields.
But it was ordained from above that this one should be healed.
So I came home from the hospital, fully recovered and alive.
It was like a horror movie in the beginning, but this brother survived.

I was sitting at home.
Watching tv.
When I decided to go out
And get the mail.
I look through the mail.
One of them is from Sallie Mae.
I sigh
Deeply.
Sallie Mae is like a stalker woman.
Wait not like, is.
She won’t quit calling my house.
She wont quit sending me emails.
She wont quit giving me letters.
Most of which I tear up
And burn in ritualistic fashion.
See, I don’t have the money.
I don’t have the time.
I don’t have the patience.
I am not the one.
So I call her on the phone.
And for an hour and a half
I explain to her my situation.
That I took her out
With the expectation that money would come later.
But now jobs are hard to come by.
So cant we just be friends?
She then starts throwing words about like interest.
I don’t know where that came from.
I’m certainly not interested in her.
I started to talk about forgiveness.
My bad
So I decide to forbear my loans.
Future me can worry about them.
It can be future me’s problem.

I'm sorry that our situationship has got to end
I am the only one who is to blame
Its time for me to stop as if it's all pretend
Now I feel nothing but sorrow and shame.

I'm sorry but I feel the urge to leave
Our situationship has lasted for quite a while
When I think of you I can't help but grieve
Maybe one day we will make up and reconcile

I look about on the good times we spent together
The conversations we had were wonderful and great
I'm sorry we have to end it but its for the better
Please don't think of me as filled with malice or hate

I still hold your hold close to my heart
Dont make this situationship be a memory
Its sad that our situationship has drifted apart
So when you look up above, remember me.

Your breath was invaded by beer.
***** was its companion and friend.
When I look at you I feel fear.
Wondering when it would all end.

You were fallen face-first out on the street.
Removed from the consciousness of the earth.
If you and alcohol fought, you suffered defeat.
Every day you suffer more loss of self worth.

I grab you by the ankles and drag you home.
But you are heavy, so it is a burden.
Now we are back at the house, and you and I are alone.
On the outside I am happy, but my heart is hurting.

You slowly turn over, and start to snore.
I wonder how you could be asleep through it all.
I cannot keep on doing this anymore.
Alcohol may be your friend now, but it would be your downfall.

I babble in mics, mastering vibes that migrate like African tribes.
In these paths I realize, the prejudice that strike with pathogen drives,
I write my feelings through this brother’s hand, the force will massacre your heard.
We were children of the motherland, before the wars and the diaspora occurred.
Only bars that are in my future, are the ones that give me licenses.
Not the bars that unfortunate men peep out of, locked behind a grisly iron fence.
And because of those bars, we get barred from jobs and turn to busy violence.
How can we raise the bar, when the bar is lowered by our own expectations.
Represent my people, the cases I want are the ones that I represent Clients.
Not the cases that hold bullets meant to perpertuate recent violence.
Because of those cases, we got cases because our brothers couldn’t control themselves.
The only shots I want are shots for wisdom-skilled gain without physical pain.
Not the shots that are drug-filled and they put it in and out a mystical vein.
Or the shots that get thugs killed, because they were about the visceral game.
I Got suits for my profession, but the only suits that people profess me in have sentences.
And not the sentences that end in periods, but the ones that end a person’s freedom, period.
People want a revolution, but when the time comes they don’t want to lead one.
Now I know what W.E.B Dubois meant when he talked about double consciousness.
Cant go to some places without there being an awkward troubled consequence.
But I still hold my head high, take pride in who I am, and walk with bubbled confidence.

My sanctuary of metal was encased
In a fiery hell too fierce to describe.
We were hit by fireballs from above.
But I was cut out of my warrior’s armor,
Saved from the flames of an everlasting Gehenna.
By the same State that sent me off to war.

The man strides to the stage but his words are not just another speech.
In the crowd he hears a voice, singing “Go on Brother, preach!”
She also sees that heaven told him the right moment is this here.
He see a familiar face, her eyes reflect both hope and despair.
Ears reaching to hear him, a mouth that curves upward at his words.
The lines under her eyes match the lines over his paper surface
He looks on with bemused eyes when the cameras tape her nerves.
Both her lines and his eyes understand the nature of the struggle.
He remembers walking around in the night, collecting his thoughts for a dream.
Today his spirit is a bridge over still waters, but yesterday was not so serene.
Every word weighted as worthy because it will be caught on the screen.
Eyes on the camera, he tells himself as hands grasp the lectern and it feels strong..
The same man who said that America itself has guided missiles wrong.
Looks inside to see how America can guide itself right
Thinking to himself, I gotta bring these people to church.
Back to the home I was raised, back to the place of our birth.
He clears his throat, the voice has to be made ready for so dear a show.
Then he cries out with his mouth, those sacred words, “ Fivescore years ago………”

We made a dwelling and then it dwelled within us.
In forms of dreams, so true inside our souls.
This place is now the land of the living.
With thoughts for roses, that made that land beautiful.
We gave to that land our best, but our best is yet to come.
These dreams became a deed, this deed became real.
This deed is now no longer those earthly dreams.
It moved up when we did, became heaven to us.
When we look up and smile, stars smile back with a twinkle.

America’s soil is seated on my speech.
And her breath flies  from my chest.
She reaches out to me with her two hands
That are lifted north and south
Hands that have my people’s  blood on them.
But the blood is black, not red.
America tried  to wash its hands.
But she forgot that I had the towel.
And I refused to throw it in.
I said to America  look at your hands.
You must see that you must do more than whitewash
You must stop sanitizing  and come clean.
Because if I give you the towel now
There will only be more blood
And this time it would be mine.

We were bred with much love until the ref said to touch gloves.
When they said to grow up, we put on suits to rush much.
We talked about being men that our daughters wouldn’t want to be with.
Our tribes had sons, and the saying was to not follow how we lived.
Because our role models were songs and movies, all with guns and girls.
But now we have a legacy so we want to make our sons our world.
Because when our son comes home with a problem, it is now the village's
And we don’t want society to take our young one out for pillages
We can sit down with our children, and tell them the birds and the bees
And if Mother asks how you knew this, you never heard it from me.

I wish I could forget
But I can’t watch more than one sunrise up close in a day
Without changing where I am.
And I could not remove the image
Of what you have done for me.
Without changing where I am
Because the place I reside now
Is where I am comfortable
But comfortable does not watch the sun climb the sky
Getting out of bed does.
I could not look at it straight.
Just as I looked at our friendship with two lazy eyes.
Thinking we would always be close.
In time
In distance
As people.

So as I wake up every day
And see the sun shine when before it did not.
I will always remember your kindness.
Even the moon cannot block the sun forever
So time cannot prevent us from talking.
Because our distance
Is only the distance the sun has to travel across the sky.
And just as the sun has to travel down
I could travel down to where you reside
So I do not have to forget
Us

My cousin came to my house
And stayed after Thanksgiving
I thought that Thanksgiving food was enough
Boy, was I wrong.
He woke me up at noon
At noon.
Didn’t he know I had to sleep off the Thanksgiving meal?
And he said
As if I should have known.
Could you get me the cheeseburger pizza salad slice?
I replied, From where?
Who would have such a concoction?

But I knew him.
He would be the type
To ask for a cheesy gordita crunch taco from Burger King
And look at their confusion with his own puzzlement.
Then when they told him, we don’t serve that.
He would reply, It’s okay, I have the recipe
I can tell you how it is made.
So I get up and put on my coat.
And gloves.
Because I don’t want grease all over me
And start to walk.

And just my luck
The first snow of the season starts.
Not heavy enough for me to turn back
Just enough snow to turn it into an experience
That made me wish I would have slept upstairs
In the closet
So my cousin could not find me.
Its like the Making the Band 2 show
When Puff Daddy tells them
That he wants cheesecake in a different borough.
So I guess my cousin’s Puffy now.
He said he was into producing….

I get to the pizza place
And tell them what my cousin wants
But it took me three tries to get it all out.
They said, I’m sorry, but we don’t have the cheeseburger pizza salad slice
But we have the chicken pizza salad slice
I said Good enough
I’m sure my cousin would be happy
I would regret those words
I brought the pizza home.
And told him that I got it.
He seemed happy
Until he saw that the meat was chicken
Not cow.

He asked me
Had the audacity to ask
Couldn’t they remove the chicken
And put hamburger meat?
I tried to tell him, That is not how it works
They don’t respect your recipes
They have their own
What is the difference?
He then pointed at the pizza and said
Chicken goes on burgers
It does not go on pizza!
I was stunned into silence
By that logic
I don’t know how cheeseburger and pizza go together.
I told him I would eat it for lunch
So at least one of us was satisfied.
The other had his own ideas
But couldn’t find a store to cook them.

I tried to call on inspiration
But it was a ****-dial.
It turns out I had it saved.
So when I tried to reach back
They said to leave a message.
I told them I wrote it
And it was my poetry
I called on motivation this time
It said that I would have to explore some options
And they said I would have to put you on hold
I sighed but I did not want to leave.
Because I have important words to say.
I heard a voice at the other end
I thought now is the time to speak
But that voice was poetry
It already spoke for me.

The beginning of a poet?
Its like trying to get to the beginning of man.
It started with Dr. Seuss
And colorful pictures and rhyme.
Continued with the reading of psalms.
And looking at King Arthur.
Trying to create short stories.
Until I realized I could do it in rhyme
And tell a story at the same time.
And use metaphor and alliteration.
Without having to draw it out.
I could put Arthur’s sword in the stone again.

It was also embedded in the soul of rap music.
I thought that I could spit like them.
And I kept writing until I woke up one day.
In a cold sweat to realize that I was not a rapper
But I could make something of these words
That was not rap
But was a special bond.
It picked up in school

When the teacher said, I have an assignment.
And I discovered a part of me
That I thought was buried
In my childhood
And to arrange them into beauty.
And then the beginning really soared in slam poetry.
Spoken word that was performance art.
Even though I did not win an award.
I discovered a talent
That was more than victory
It was realization.

I will forever remember you.
Not by your name
That is just temporary
But by a greater essence
That can never be forgotten
I will look back and see the times
The times we spent together.
Because they were moments that we created.
The laughs that we had with each other
That was breath that sustained us both.
Distance could not keep us apart.
Because distance was just one more fact of life
And what we felt was more than facts
It was an entire reality.
So as I wish you goodbye.
I know that as I take a breath
I will always remember your laugh

We spill ink
Like we spill milk
Onto the ground
But we say that it is not our fault
Because the spill was already there
But why does it say words, and touch my heart.
Ok so maybe I spilled it on purpose.
To make a gourmet treat for all of us to enjoy
But on the ground though?!
This ground brings us closer together
So we can kneel and admire what I wrote
Why use paper
When you can use Earth’s platform?
But who is going to pick it up?
Who said anything about picking it up
It will stay there
Because ink like this on the floor
Is meant to be admired, not cleaned.

You really don’t’ want that decline
That evidence of monetary decline
That you wish you had a rewind
The “Sir this is insufficient funds” decline.
The “I cant’ remember where I put my keys”
They catch you looking on the pavement on hands and knees
Begging the ground that please I need to get out this freeze
Then you discover your keys were in your pants pockets hem.
You remember it is there when you had to talk with them
You wonder what you must do, or if it is just you
And your significant other is saying Don’t make a fuzz boo.
Then you look in the mirror and you see some gray hair
It did not snow and you were'nt outside, so it must be always there
You jump up, because you are made that someone never told.
Looking in the mirror and scold yourself because you think you getting old.
But now you can say you are distinguished, because the gray has kissed your hair.
Put on enough dye in your head to choke the environment because you don’t care
What is most important is the need to keep up and not be appalled.
You reach onto your hair and your hand goes too far back, are you going bald?!

God stepped in the garden to where the serpent be
He had a prophecy to be delivered urgently
God said that there will be one day a seed
Not to feed our greed but to supply a need
It will be a fight but the seed will crush the serpent’s head
The Son of Man bled and would rise up from the dead

Abraham looked at Isaac as he raised his arm with the knife
God told Abraham to spare this young man’s fragile life
Abraham saw a ram and decided to pick its flesh from the thicket mess
God promised Abraham that a lamb would save his people from wickedness
The seed and the lamb was coming in the body of one
And he would be both a being that was Godly and Man’s son.

The kings asked Herod where is he who is King of the Jews
Because they saw his start and these kings that it was good news
Herod was worried, because this child’s power was a threat to the throne
And this child was prophesized since Adam said Bone of my bone
Herod lied and said that the kings should visit and tell him
The kings left thinking that Herod’s words were very compelling

Over the place that Jesus was born there was the brightest star.
It was a journey that they made from all night from afar
Kings went to meet the King, and they gave gifts to the one who was Truth
They gave gifts of gold to God who gave his  greatness as a youth.
God rewarded their obedience, and we still remember them this day
An angel of God warned them in a dream to go another way.
They left and did not tell Herod, because they knew he was evil.
And that he would try to **** the Savior who came to save all people.

I was walking with my cousins
From the mall to the car
They came from the motherland
Although I don’t think my ancestors could have mothered
What was about to happen.
See, I had checked on my phone
And knew that it was about to snow
Although I had forgot to tell my cousins
I really wish I would have remembered

The first flakes began to fall down
I thought, It is a winter wonderland
Then the flakes began to turn into a snowstorm.
My cousins looked up and were confused.
Because they had not seen snow before
Not even in their movies.
Most of their movies were like Beyonce vs Rihanna
Or Obama vs Ghana’s President
They started to run
I shouted, The car is that way!
They screamed, Forget the car
O God, save us from this snow-fire!
My aunt was standing under a building
Shaking her head and saying, Not today, Satan

Their reactions hurt my feelings
I thought we were braver than this
Soon the snow turned to rain
What they could recognize
They came back sheepishly
And it was a long ride back
When I had to explain what snow was
And how it was not fire

The moon pulls on the oceans
Like a great love story.
The moon makes the ocean down to earth
Makes it more accessible to people.
I wonder when they first met
But they were destined to be together
The moon and ocean understand the gravity of their love
When this moon is full
It is stronger
Like the ocean took the moon to dinner
And the moon said Ill have all the entrees on the menu

The ocean could have selected a star in the sky
But the ocean said, I choose you
Even though you go through phases
I still love you.
Even though you have a dark side
I want to be with you
Man might have walked out on you
But I will always be there
Sometimes the moon embarrasses the ocean
Probably with remarks like
Remember the time you watched that romance movie with me?
The ocean wishes the moon would stop
So that he can show off in front of his boys
And make waves everywhere he goes
But the ocean knows the moon will always be there
And you can even see the moon in the ocean
Still pulling its favorite lover.

I remember when I was young
It was in elementary school.
The teacher told us not to bring our toys
To leave our toys at home
Because now was the time to learn
Not for toys.
One boy did not listen
But he never listened
His name was Deshaun.
He had an Optimus Prime toy.
Deshaun said it was his best friend
We did not argue
He brought it every day.
But one day,
Tyler yelled out in class
Loud, for those of us in the back
Teacher, Deshaun has a toy!
He’s not supposed to have it!
Deshaun turned his face
Just his face
His body was turned toward the  front.
And said in a shrill voice
IS IT YOUR BUSINESS?!!
I guess it wasn’t
Because the class was silent
He even brought the toy home
I guess Optimus Prime got to go to Cybertron once more.

Don't put a knife in my back
And tell me it is a cape
I already have a weight on my shoulders
And it does not feel like this.

You may not see my strength
Think that there is no power in me
But just look at me in adversity
And strength is all that you will find in me
My power will be what you cannot stop talking about
After adversity is no more.

I cannot sleep on my wings
But I also cannot lay on my crown.
So what is precious about me
I should make sacred.
So I guess I will dream sitting on the throne.
But my wings don’t fit
And I cannot keep my eyes closed
Because this throne is not built for the angelic
But for those who intend to stay.
And I have to steal flight, away
Because the sky wonders when I will be back

One day
When I will know nothing but ground
And cross over to the great beyond
Becoming a name on a genealogy
The roots of my family tree
Poetry will select this page
And so many other pages
And sigh
And look around
She will say
To her grandfather, Clause
To her grandmother, Great
To her father, Time
And to her mother, Earth
I knew this man
He was my first love

I was walking down the street
I saw a sign that said Free Hugs
And people chanting Hugs for Free
My face lit up
Finally someone that understands
I went to those with outstretched arms
And told them Say no more
I ran with Hugs from way back when
This must be the new protest
They looked confused
I then asked Who is this Hugs
And how can I help get my brother out of prison
He is like family to me
Hugs for Free
More like Hugs for President
They put their hands down
And quickly crossed the street
I hope they let Hugs out soon
I’m looking forward to meeting him.