Under the Sheets

Written 2006 

"Under the Sheets"

9/11 was taking my innocence

I reminisce on before it was militant

Before I knew I was under the fence

I used to look up to the hills, I was dreaming so high

Thinking about owning a mansion and living the good life

But we're kept as tenants, they rock a hoody because it looks nice

I rock a hoody because it's so cold at night

they got these gated communities

but who's really in the cage?

trying to escape AIDS there is no immunity

there Might as well be barbed wire around another planet

I'm looking forward we can't retire like we planned it

They want to keep us out of mars

It's all good while they worry about their cars we can reach the stars

And look down from the mountains

but first you must learn how to smile as you kill

if you want to be like the folks on the hill

 Better trust you me, because I don't give a fuck

they should be happy that I even made it up here

Saying I got lucky, like I said it doesn't happen you can trust me

Since I'm 16 looking through my eyes real dusty

Under the sheets, freezing, can't believe that I'm breathing it in

Praying every night that we don't die in our sleep

 pulling up the covers, I Must be crazy

in norman bates scenes going 'Mother...'

the walls speak and the floors creak

I'm reaching the point where I need poison

European impressions are deep rooted 

while I'm influenced through cassettes

Even the illiterate know that Romeo loved Juliet

Going back to Roman tragedy

to my time this New York catastrophe

it's more than Sopranos my family is all tones

and I wanna go to Rome

but first you must learn how to smile as you kill

if you want to be like the folks on the hill

I believe in reincarnation

I believe one was gone and I was put here in place

to take a torch, 

give me one better reason why I create these thoughts

Why I'm better off in the past and in the present I'm lost?

My presence is often confused, 

 as a present with no thought is some jewelry

 bought to show love, 

 but what really matters is what you do when that time comes

when we're under the sheets

was it just a fuck? 

or was it what I've been waiting my whole life for?

hold it right there - my mind's numb I need to write more

the pages seem torn, even my words are at War

each day seems longer yet we're on a shorter and shorter fuse

Who's going to lose it first? 

 It explodes BOOM

as we move pawns towards a King, the fire burns

the game of Chess is like a sword fight

 my words cut through when I sing

fuck a Bishop my religion is this, and you saw why

but first you must learn how to smile as you kill

if you want to be like the folks on the hill

Stop Frontin' Republicans.

Barack Obama said in his speech last night after accepting the Democratic Party's nomination for President of the United States :

"But I stand before you all tonight because all across America something is stirring. What the naysayers don't understand is that this election has never been about me; it's about you"

I think, and I've said this from the beginning, that the most important effect Barack Obama has had, and will have, is in his ability to inspire others. People who were never interested in politics and did not have a care for how our government is run are now not only paying attention but making an effort to have an impact on their community and local governments. The good that comes from Obama's historic campaign is not in the people like me who have been into politics for years but it is in the people who never gave a shit because they thought their voice was worthless. These people who never gave a shit are now stepping up and saying "Yes We Can", and you can bet many of them will follow through on that vow. 

All of this goes a long way with what I heard Newark Mayor Cory Booker say on NY1's coverage last night before Obama's speech. He was asked if he had been asked if he was 'cut of the same cloth' of Obama representing a new rising politician, and his response was that he was like Obama but that across the country there were lots of other new politicians, a new 'generation' of them. He said "there are so many rising stars I can barely see the sky". 

I believe that.

Obama isn't going to lose - but EVEN in the possibility that he did there is no way all of these people are going to just give up. I can't believe that we are a country of quitters. We aren't. Yes We Can. The dream of America is overcoming anything and everything, every single person in America has an idea implanted in their head that it could always be better for all of us. Am I Lying? Am I Wrong? 

No, I'm not, so, 

Stop Frontin' Republicans. 

Peace & LOVE

t

Let Us Be

I spend the majority of my time(whether throughout my life's course, or at work) with people who are not only much older than myself, but with people who have young children, people who have grown children and people who are currently putting (while struggling financially) their kids through college. People who are caring for their aging parents. People who have responsibilities over others that take precedence over their own affairs. People who are worried about affording care for their sick child. People who are worried if they will even wake up the next day. People who have lost both of their parents, people who have lost brothers and sisters, people who have lost sons and daughters. People who are very close to me. People who were coerced into joining a military during wartime because a failing economy has dwindled their options of making a living. People who don't have healthcare and will not have it in the foreseeable future. People who were failed by a lacking and entirely ineffective New York City public school system. People who were never given the second or even first chance they deserved. People who were addicted to drugs and rather than being seen as a victim who needed help they were seen as a criminal who should face incarceration. People who were punished for making one of the very few choices made available to them. People who were forced to leave a city they were born & raised in because they could no longer afford to live there. People who do their best and accept what it gets them.

This must read like a political campaign list of constituents I am trying to reach for votes. I wish it was. These are all people of which I can identify an individual close to me who faces each of those problems. Am I being earnest in hoping that by acknowledging these people in my world that something will come of it? In hoping that someone somewhere will read this and be inspired to think about all of the people in their world, who maybe went unnoticed or forgotten? What good is a persons thoughts? My hope is that it will lead to action. That it will lead to those who were lucky, those like me, who have the resources and ability to do it, to bring their struggle forward so that they are not forgotten or overlooked. 

These people I talk about, they are the source of my immense gratitude for everything I've been given and blessed with. My attitude is deep-rooted in the belief through my experience that everything, EVERYTHING, could be so much worse in my world. 

I'm not rich. I have no formal education.  I own nothing in this world. I have my friends and family and that is it. They are everything to me and everything I do is for them. I believe in the presidency of Barack Obama because I believe that he not only help all of these people in my world, but that he will allow others, including myself, to be more effective in having an actual impact on their lives. 

There's nothing special or glorious about me(or Barack Obama for that matter). We are not crusaders on a righteous path of holiness. We are not great. We are good. Let us be.