Beyond The Ruins

[This one kind of borders on the line between poem and rant.  I wrote this to get a bunch of things I was pondering about the world off my chest.  Enjoy.]

I don’t have to draw you a sketch and shade it,

or show you a blank canvas and paint it

to get you to agree with me when I say this,

“It sure is a crazy world ain’t it?”

My rags done been faded,

and the journey’s been so exhausting it’s a miracle I still haven’t fainted.

I’ve come this far with my message to relay it.

So do listen well and prepare yourself to take it.

This is all a sick game everyone is playing

whether you’re just passing through or plan on staying.

Nothing is alright when you’re declared criminally insane

for realizing everyone’s been faking.

It’s all gone is all I’m saying.

Everything and everyone rounded up by the Machine and taken.

You’re sadly mistaken

if you believe the world we live in is anything but misshapen.

You look around and see everything is still there,

but this is exactly why we’re told not to stare.

The Man in the big chair

knows if you look long enough you’ll see He doesn’t care.

Just so long as we beat the snare

to His rhythm He knows we’ll never be aware

of the true Despair that crept from His lair,

and in its wake left the world in ruins everywhere.

But we still hold onto our persistence

because living life without a drive ain’t nothing but nonsense.

How can you say it ain’t a nuisance

knowing we’re out here trying to make a dollar from a few cents?

Riding around in busted up Buicks

because that’s all we’ve got to help get us through this,

and to our jobs hoping for a few tips

while Big Man still has yet to rebuke this.

He couldn’t care less about the poor

because He’s spending all our money on war.

We’re standing with frozen outstretched hands outside His door,

trying our damnedest to keep warm.

Yet He goes about His so-called chores

playing it off like He doesn’t know what we’re crying for.

What He has in store

for us no longer has anything to do with the greater good anymore.

He’s too busy worrying about the flow of His cash

to even bother considering anything we ask.

Always so eager to go to war real fast,

concerned only with giving the economy that nice blast.

Too many tribes are fighting over religion to see who’ll stand last,

not realizing that we all share the same past,

but He’s probably behind all of that mayhem too,

watching it all happen through a one-way stained glass.

There’s no bright side

to the endless flow of blood from torture, murder, and suicide.

If we’re so civilized,

why can’t we swallow our pride and put our differences aside?

It could work.  It just might,

but we’re so preoccupied with the urge to fight that we never tried

while He continues to sit back,

laughing so hard at us that He’s probably cried.

I say “He.”  He is They.

They are the ones who call all the shots like a well-scripted play.

They are the manipulators bending us to Their will everyday

to make us hand over our hard-earned pay,

and if we resist or ever dare to stray,

They’ll come down on us and force it from our grasp anyway.

They cause so much disarray it pains me to say

how many we could’ve saved if it weren’t for They.

I’ve heard too many others say this.  So it ain’t just me,

“All They care about is money money money.”

They tell us we’re free,

but free ain’t free when you’ve been suckered into paying a lifetime fee.

Even the rappers that know how the grind can be

still haven’t shown their people much love lately,

keeping all their money for themselves yet throwing it around on the fucking T.V.

for all of us to feel that twitch of envy.

What happened to the realness in Hip-Hop we used to see?

No one cares about your fucking Beamer, Benz, or Bentley!

Rappers act like we actually give two shits about their heavy-ass jewelry.

These punk bitches gladly rake in the Benjies at the cost of their authenticity.

Hip-Hop runs fathoms deeper than just life in the streets,

these rappers’ lousy rap beefs,

or how many women these slobs with no teeth

managed to get beneath their damn sheets.

How can any man use a woman only for sex,

or strike her, telling her she’s worthless?

We should consider ourselves blessed!

They’re our mothers, sisters, and lovers!  Pay your respects!

Now our women are convinced they need to take steps

to slim themselves down and get a bigger chest,

sadly never believing that the assets

their mama gave them are the ones that suit them the best.

You can’t allow yourself to listen to

every little thing these boys tell you.

Putting yourself down is what They want you to do

only so They can take advantage of you.

How can you ever expect someone to love you

if you don’t love you too?

If no one else will, I’ll care for you and we’ll see it through.

You just have to wait, hope, and believe, boo.

They’re always going to try to put us down

like lost and found dogs at the inner city pound.

Tell me where your rights are now

when They have guns pointed at you yelling, “Get on the ground!”

Just because we’re on the outside

doesn’t mean there aren’t any prison guards around.

They slowly strip away our rights

under the premise of keeping us safe and sound.

Swear to the skies, hope the Man dies,

the time has come when mankind must dare to cross the line

and rebel before our world is further jeopardized

when a race of prisoners is institutionalized.

Open your eyes!

It’s nothing but lies from the Devil’s son in disguise, ready to bastardize.

Spread the Word of the Wise to finalize the movement to the other side.

The Revolution is on the rise!