Cycles

The sun slapped me last night -
Rippled me to the edge of earth
Where angels fly with broken wings and love with shattered hearts Moonwalk in their minds to the sounds of teardrops
Beating Michael and Marley, Mayfield and Marvin
Rest in peace
What’s going on?
You can’t teach soul like that
You can’t get this funk not to stink
So you just better breathe deep
And rock your head
Move your hips
Find God in the drum
Revolution in the bass
And make freedom look sexy tonight

The sun slapped me last night -
Rippled me to the edge of earth
Where angels resurrect newspaper clippings with God
In the time before times
When Halos shined through clouds like north stars to freedom Guided by the sounds of our flesh cutting through air
Listening to the words of ancestors beating against our skin
Using scars on backs as maps
We dream of better places
Where history remembers our name and the future’s born in our favour

So one time for the brothers and sisters in school
Challenging rules for better tomorrows
Fighting traditions and yesterdays
Serpent tongues and false smiles
You are evolution in tears and sweat
You are everything they read about but are too afraid to see:
The beating at the protest
The innocent man behind bars
The pain of the verdict after the cops kill a brother
Or stick him with a plunger
Ask your questions
Demand your answers
Do not let them fade your soul

So two times for the preachers not scared to preach the truth
Standing tall in ghettos, praying God blows his
Breath around these parts
Cause summertime heat has folk feeling violent
Saying it’s just too hot to believe God cares

So they bottle their frustration in beers
And wait to see those eyes
Feel that gaze
Something
Lord, make me a sign
Let me know you still care!

The sun slapped me last night -
Rippled me to the edge of earth
Where forgotten angels are ready for repatriation
Too proud to cry, so they fish fry
On corners and stoops
Backyards and barbershops
Arguing the world isn’t round
For we are the children of her dark corners

You will not fade our soul

I surrendered my beliefs
And found myself at the tree of life
Injecting my story into the veins of leaves
Only to find that stories like forests
Are subject to seasons