HOW I RISE

Can I tell you how
I rise
How music takes hold
And free my mind?

Can I tell you about
My three or so minutes of great escape
Where the shackles that held me bound
Were cast off with all the chains

See, when my soul is heavy
And life weighs a ton
I hang on
To the thread of a song

Swing into melody, harmony
Rhythm, timbre, silence and calm
I let them surround me
Like Morpheaus' arms

I feel myself ascend
To a vanilla sky
Float on zephyr
Til am at one with life

And that
Is how I rise
How I get up from a low
To find a compromise

HOW I RISE

Can i tell you how
I rise
How music takes hold
And free my mind?

Can i tell you about
My three or so minutes of great escape
Where the shackles that held me bound
Were cast off with all the chains

See, when my soul is heavy
And life weighs a ton
I hang on
To the thread of a song

Swing into melody, harmony
Rhythm, timbre, silence and calm
I let them surround me
Like Morpheaus' arms

I feel myself ascend
To a vanilla sky
Float on zephyr
Til am at one with life

And that
Is how i rise
How i get up from a low
To find a compromise

THE WOMB

I crawl into the womb 
Of the night's gloom, 
It is where i often go 
To lick and nurse all wound 

Away from the inquisitive eye of the light 
I would hide 
Like an undocumented alien 
In a foreign clime 

A time, i would dialogue with ghosts 
That constantly roam 
The deep recesses of my thoughts 
In search of a permanent home 

And with the dead, i reacquint myself, 
Watching the ones who dwell 
In the rear view mirror 
Come alive with shadows and silhouettes 

The night is where i wrestle demons, 
Ask for refund 
On lost times, 
Open up a new lung 

And breathe

THE WOMB

I crawl into the womb 
Of the night's gloom, 
It is where i often go 
To lick and nurse all wound 

Away from the inquisitive eye of the light 
I would hide 
Like an undocumented alien 
In a foreign clime 

A time, i would dialogue with ghosts 
That constantly roam 
The deep recesses of my thoughts 
In search of a permanent home 

And with the dead, i reacquint myself, 
Watching the ones who dwell 
In the rear view mirror 
Come alive with shadows and silhouettes 

The night is where i wrestle demons, 
Ask for refund 
On lost times, 
Open up a new lung 

And breathe

BED CRY

When somethin' carnal lurks in the eyes 
And sparks fly 
Setting fire to the thighs 

When two bodies unite 
To write 
Songs in Oohs and sighs 

When heros and heroins 
Race for "oasis" like the Bedouins, 
Aah'ing and Ooh'ing 

Sweats are broken 
Sheets are "soaken" 
Vugalrity spoken 

Coitus reservatus, 
Interruptus 
Behind boudoir doors 

The bed will cry

BED CRY

When somethin' carnal lurks in the eyes 
And sparks fly 
Setting fire to the thighs 

When two bodies unite 
To write 
Songs in Oohs and sighs 

When heros and heroins 
Race for "oasis" like the Bedouins, 
Aah'ing and Ooh'ing 

Sweats are broken 
Sheets are "soaken" 
Vugalrity spoken 

Coitus reservatus, 
Interruptus 
Behind boudoir doors 

The bed will cry

THE GIRL SHE WAS

In the small hours

The mocking whispers of a Judas past, becomes louder

The ache that in the shadow lies

Crawls out from behind her eyes

The sting of a stolen innocence

Forcefully taken before it was pubescent

Wouldn’t lie still, roams her recollection        

As would a ghost in a haunted mansion

While the world sleeps, her thoughts lay in ruin

Pieces forgotten, on the floor strewn

The burden of their denigrating stares

She’s borne alone for many years

How come

Nobody thought to look beyond

Her beautiful pre-pubertal eye lids

To see a little girl locked away in frightened silence

In the small hours

I feel the pain of this bleeding flower

I mourn the little girl she was

But I’m also glad for the grown woman she’s become

THE GIRL SHE WAS

In the small hours

The mocking whispers of a Judas past, becomes louder

The ache that in the shadow lies

Crawls out from behind her eyes

The sting of a stolen innocence

Forcefully taken before it was pubescent

Wouldn’t lie still, roams her recollection        

As would a ghost in a haunted mansion

While the world sleeps, her thoughts lay in ruin

Pieces forgotten, on the floor strewn

The burden of their denigrating stares

She’s borne alone for many years

How come

Nobody thought to look beyond

Her beautiful pre-pubertal eye lids

To see a little girl locked away in frightened silence

In the small hours

I feel the pain of this bleeding flower

I mourn the little girl she was

But I’m also glad for the grown woman she’s become

GOVERNMENT NAME

Thousands of suns

Have come and shone,

Risen and fallen

On the moniker I was given

I’ve seen clouds that promised rain

And precipitations that never came,

I have gazed on quickly faded silver lining

 And live through many moments that left me sighing

Can’t say I wear this name

But I bear this name

This name that the law knows me by

This name, I still can’t identify,

This name I sometimes think was badly drawn

But, will I be the same with another one?

I have taken pleasure in the pieces of its good fortune

 And I have borne the heavy weight of its burden.

Lift me up, God that’s what the name says

I need to hear it roar from its present silence

I bear this name

And I plan to wear this name.

                 

GOVERNMENT NAME

Thousands of suns

Have come and shone,

Risen and fallen

On the moniker I was given

I’ve seen clouds that promised rain

And precipitations that never came,

I have gazed on quickly faded silver lining

 And live through many moments that left me sighing

Can’t say I wear this name

But I bear this name

This name that the law knows me by

This name, I still can’t identify,

This name I sometimes think was badly drawn

But, will I be the same with another one?

I have taken pleasure in the pieces of its good fortune

 And I have borne the heavy weight of its burden.

Lift me up, God that’s what the name says

I need to hear it roar from its present silence

I bear this name

And I plan to wear this name.

                 

THIRTEEN THOUSAND SUNS

On the eve of the anniversary of my birth

In retrospection I twirl

Mulling my fate over

Why hard rain always seems to fall on me, I wonder

In these hours of reverie

I keep my own company

Though a casualty of stolen sleeps

I count no proverbial sheep

This skin I’ve lived in

For so long is weathered and unbreathing

In my head, dirges play

Jarringly on a mental Steinway

Caught in this fog

I’m besieged by the black dog

And all kinds of ghost

Of days past and tomorrow unknown

Will I ever bloom with the flowers of May?

Because give or take

In thirteen thousand suns I have basked

But silver shadow, am yet to cast

THIRTEEN THOUSAND SUNS

On the eve of the anniversary of my birth

In retrospection I twirl

Mulling my fate over

Why hard rain always seems to fall on me, I wonder

In these hours of reverie

I keep my own company

Though a casualty of stolen sleeps

I count no proverbial sheep

This skin I’ve lived in

For so long is weathered and unbreathing

In my head, dirges play

Jarringly on a mental Steinway

Caught in this fog

I’m besieged by the black dog

And all kinds of ghost

Of days past and tomorrow unknown

Will I ever bloom with the flowers of May?

Because give or take

In thirteen thousand suns I have basked

But silver shadow, am yet to cast

CONVERSE

Dipped in the spirit

Of Chuck Taylor

Dripping with that “all star” valor

Fresh,

Man and kicks

Perfectly in sync

I let

My “conversed” feet

Converse with the street

Fluently

I hear them speak

That sweet lingo of these jungles of concrete

Deep in my hustle,

They carry me like a seasoned vet

With intended steps

Chasing dreams

And paper trails

I’m one with my chucks, as we navigate

CONVERSE

Dipped in the spirit

Of Chuck Taylor

Dripping with that “all star” valor

Fresh,

Man and kicks

Perfectly in sync

I let

My “conversed” feet

Converse with the street

Fluently

I hear them speak

That sweet lingo of these jungles of concrete

Deep in my hustle,

They carry me like a seasoned vet

With intended steps

Chasing dreams

And paper trails

I’m one with my chucks, as we navigate

RATS AND ROACHES

The troubled wind

Blowing across the Middle East

Is finally upon Tripoli

Threatening the lamp of yet another Narcissist

The tyrant’s days are dimming

The wall of fears are falling

And the people have risen

Powered by the spirit of Bouazizi

And though the king’s usual unbridled wrath

Delivered bloodbath

And all that

Still the people marched on from the green square to Benghazi

Surely, these must the dying days

Of the regime of the man who reign

Over rats and roaches because the caged

Won’t be denied the coming euphoria of victory

RATS AND ROACHES

The troubled wind

Blowing across the Middle East

Is finally upon Tripoli

Threatening the lamp of yet another Narcissist

The tyrant’s days are dimming

The wall of fears are falling

And the people have risen

Powered by the spirit of Bouazizi

And though the king’s usual unbridled wrath

Delivered bloodbath

And all that

Still the people marched on from the green square to Benghazi

Surely, these must the dying days

Of the regime of the man who reign

Over rats and roaches because the caged

Won’t be denied the coming euphoria of victory

THAT THING

That thing

So red, so pink

So cloud nine

So bliss

That thing

Is food for king

How come,

On that thing, you let the swine feast?

Don’t you know they just go a plundering

And in the wind, fling

The secrets

There in?

Once they hit it

They quit it

And pour

Strange seeds in it

You are a queen

But In borrowed skin

You linger too long

So you feed with un-pristine

That thing your thing

So red, so pink

So seventh heaven

So food for a king

You look great on the brochure

Glossy and stuff

THAT THING

That thing

So red, so pink

So cloud nine

So bliss

That thing

Is food for king

How come,

On that thing, you let the swine feast?

Don’t you know they just go a plundering

And in the wind, fling

The secrets

There in?

Once they hit it

They quit it

And pour

Strange seeds in it

You are a queen

But In borrowed skin

You linger too long

So you feed with un-pristine

That thing your thing

So red, so pink

So seventh heaven

So food for a king

You look great on the brochure

Glossy and stuff

SHELVES

Shelves are made

For memories

Frozen In books and frames

Lives lived

And lessons learned

From shots missed

Mementos

Of heights attained

And lows that fought for crescendos

Trophies from triumphs,

Poignant moments

Young dreams can fly on

Hard covers and paperbacks

Of lost loves

And love gotten back

There’s no place for dreams not chased

On the shelf because

Till your dying breath, they will keep calling your name

SHELVES

Shelves are made

For memories

Frozen In books and frames

Lives lived

And lessons learned

From shots missed

Mementos

Of heights attained

And lows that fought for crescendos

Trophies from triumphs,

Poignant moments

Young dreams can fly on

Hard covers and paperbacks

Of lost loves

And love gotten back

There’s no place for dreams not chased

On the shelf because

Till your dying breath, they will keep calling your name