Not Busy, Productive (Rap/Inspirational/Book#3)
Not Busy, Productive
Hopeful desire,
I’m reaching higher,
Veins pumping iron,
Business attire,
Dress shirt needs iron,
Mindful tenacity,
Give me what I earn,
Mindless audacity,
Worked for what I earned,
Mental capacity,
Spirit afire,
Devil’s a liar,
World’s feeling heavy,
Bench press this iron,
Children are dyin’,
Mind-ful-ness mired,
We’re not an island,
Let’s all inspire,
Great things, yes, great
things,
Let’s all inquire,
Real strength acquired,
Real love transpired,
Goals, thoughts rewired –
Vision devoured
Re-sults perspired.
I’m so proud of you, ou.
I’m
so proud of you.
[Louisiana school board rejects big
oil’s request for tax breaks.]
Not scared of sharks
lurking,
No longer a mermaid,
I am now a merqueen,
Or if I choose a merking,
On my own since thirteen,
Doctor path or nursing,
I can do all things, yeah,
I can do all things.
I am here for you, ou,
If you’re sad or hurting.
Momma’s boy is nursing,
Being cool is y-u-u-r
thing,
Scary Friday thirteen,
Can’t keep you from
learning,
Challenge, never shirking,
Your wheels keep on
turning,
Happiness is churning,
Feels so smooth like
butter.
Feels so smooth like
butter.
Look how hard you’re
working,
Look how smart you’re
working,
You are meant for great
things,
I am so proud of you, ou.
I
am so proud of you.
[Is there more salt than chili in
your bag of chips?
Chile says no to no warning labels
on snacks like chips
advertised with colorful cartoon
characters for kids.]
I find love, agape,
In the middle of Mojave,
The sweet life, agave,
Every day, I carpe – diem!
I ride bikes,
No car pay,
My bedroom has carpet,
I’m barefoot
Like Gandhi (Gan-day),
My bloodline’s
Ashanti (Ashan-tay),
I’m feelin’ so fancy (fun-say)
Bon appétit, bonne santé,
My love life is healthy (health-ay),
I’ve found me, comprendes?
I’ve found love, it’s plenty
(plen-tay),
Now what else can I say – list it
like Gawande!
No more talks of one day.
Impossible is nothing. Impossible is
nothing.
You
don’t need permission to love.
And
you don’t need permission to lead.
I am so proud of you, ou.
I
am so proud of you.
Love, always, Jemel Roberson
[He was raised by Dr. King himself.
Kaepernick knelt in honor.
Kaepernick knelt in honor and was
raised by Dr. King himself.]
They want me to pause
Like a comma,
But I’m doing good, fam,
That’s my truth – Nirvana,
Contracted with the heavens,
In my non-compete clause,
My goals pick up steam
Like I’m in a sauna.
Summer in Neva(w)da(uh),
Conducive to success,
Day labored sweat equity,
That’s my one and only karma.
Mother Nature, I am one
With your aura, flora and fauna.
Deep breaths –
The only pauses I’ve got left. (Deep
Breath.)
I’m giving my all on this verse,
I’m leaving it all unrehearsed,
‘Cause some opportunities
Simply can’t be placed in reverse.
I may not go unscathed,
But I will live my life uncaged.
I’ve unleashed my potential.
I am here to stay.
Long-term success is never planned
in dog years.
Catch me if you can,
But you can’t hold me back
With your good-boys-and-girls-get-a-treat
dogma.
Try your best to break me
But I won’t break.
Look closely, but don’t you be
deceived,
The breaking that you see
Is just my pause. Pause.
Take a break. Reflect.
Inner Rasta restep,
Refresh, tabula rasa,
Deep thought, zen it out, mandala.
Well-wishing, ripples of love
With ancestral pebbles skipping from
My generational mancala.
I am greater than the drama.
I’m focused.
Focus on yourself (not me),
Push forth with what you have,
Not what you lack,
If you’re not taking two steps
forward,
You’re taking three steps back.
Let’s go beyond black labels.
Period. –
Firsthand experience,
Don’t let authentic happiness find
you,
Find it first. Choose your own
culture.
Haters never prosper.
Subliminal message of triumph: [I’ve
just passed my state exam.]
Reflection, reflection, reflections.
A guide,
A helping hand,
But not too coddled.
Just people to get you going at full
throttle.
Teach you how to tackle strife
Through your team huddles.
Think twice about your life beyond
beer bottles.
Be wary of those who smile
But they’re true scoundrels.
Lest you go down a slippery slope,
It’s best to force them all to just skedaddle.
Sky view, third row, now here’s the
case, and let’s be brief,
Unscrupulous business leaves you on
a boat with no paddles,
But mindful mentors can guide your
weaving
Through life’s weary jungles.
So, seek health and seek help.
Good health is great wealth.
Invest in sound advice
From those who don’t mumble.
Rumble and not bumble or bungle,
Treasured music of the heart,
Beat your own chest like bongos,
Keep your head up even when your
cookie crumbles.
Up, down, merry-go-round,
Seesaw, see, saw, seen,
Preschool distractions,
Next course of action:
Where’s your prebuttal?
I objected, aka, hey, I demurred,
Hatred, we must purge, cool cat, I
just purred,
Winning argument, abysmal,
Bees knees your business –
Leave something behind for you
And possibly your bundles.
Be proud of yourself.
Take a look in the mirror.
It’s time for you to redefine your
struggles.
Reach another level. – Picture that.
The beauty of life can be ageless.
Tell your own story, but know,
The
best type of model
(pause)
Is
a role model.
Please reflect.
Not
busy, productive. (Long
Pause.)
[Katherine Johnson, the NASA mathematician and African
American female trailblazer, and other ‘Hidden Figures’, finally receive formal
recognition. What an inspiration for generations to come.]
I charted my own path,
And didn’t stop to ponder
Or bother ask the risk(s).
It’s a shoot for the moon,
Reach for the stars type of thing;
Fingers crossed as I crossed the
road,
But success was only mine to have
In asterisks.
Adversity has been my only
guarantee.
I fight with my hands tied, in
eagerness,
Hoping to make a change beyond
myself,
Beyond my life – small matter –
And even perhaps beyond our galaxy.
Self-love echoed, I’m proud, you
know,
But I don’t want to live my life
with too much pride.
Action: Eyes open and awake,
In the middle of the night, (pause)
I find myself looking to the stars
above
And not the ones below to be my
guide. (Long Pause.)
[Insert good news here. Insert
empowering fact/story here.]
Evenfall,
Even in the fall,
Even if I fall,
The sun will rise
And so will I, again.
My internal policy,
Temperate times are the only falls
That seem stronger than my will,
maybe.
Adversarial, even perhaps terminal
Sometimes truth can seem so cold,
So much so that I get the chills.
This can’t happen normally,
I live in disguise,
No more lies,
I live in the skies,
No more outliers,
You
must be an anomaly,
I am living proof
Meant to contradict the past
And all other fallacies. – Change is
possible.
I am on the way.
Next line’s a potential scary
headline:
At the height of your success,
In your apex,
Shirt off,
You had six packs,
Now it’s twelve packs
And three packs a day. –
This is often the results of fame
Washed away,
And I don’t want that to be me,
If I make it. If I ever make it,
Will I fall into these hard times?
Priceless,
Drop-shipped,
it’s a free fall.
As I facilitate my freedom call,
They scream, “It’s a free for all.”
It’s my food for thought,
And too many want a free lunch.
Peacemeal, “friends” tergiversate,
Everyone, it seems,
Just want me to empty my plate.
I create.
I give everything I’ve got.
Loss of privacy – suck it up,
You should not be incontrollable,
Lots of piracy, patch it up,
Your soul shouldn’t be so poachable.
Egg-cellent. It can all be feasible,
It’s the fee for all, all artists,
all writers;
The sound of silence is so loud,
Even on my worse day, if there is a
crowd,
I must be approachable.
Convoluted thoughts,
I alluded to the truth,
Don’t be insecure,
Social engineering at its best,
Hold on lest you fall,
Find success on our tall ladder,
It’s a tall order, but climb on,
Yes, you must,
No more second chances.
No more time to rest
Or the time to cleanse your
gallbladder,
– They throw stones at me;
They think I’m a gallbladder. –
No more breaks,
No more elbow space,
No more room for error,
No more time to eat your greens,
No more time for drinking water,
No more time to live,
While you try to live the dream.
Now I’m wide awake. Pause.
[I just got myself a job.]
I need not be too complex,
I have no right to contest,
This might be my one and only shot,
I confess,
If there’s no real chance
Of ever winning this contest,
Ignominious address,
I must reflect on my words,
And hope that they simply do not
lose context,
As they reach every low-income youth
complex,
Giddily, what’s next?
I have an obligation to you.
You are a fellow human being.
Elemental truths told periodically,
Mendeleev,
Evidential proof scrolled electronically,
Pedagogically, noble words aloud,
Philosophically, I can fully
recognize my now.
I accept it. I can grow. I won’t
leave.
I can grow within it. I can face it.
I can face them.
The nobleness of now is filled with
purpose,
They cannot stop me from living.
And it feels hard to concentrate,
Life is just too short to only consider,
but not do.
I have never been nearer/closer to
my fears,
I now finally understand,
Now, we’re friends,
Fear, please, may I hold your hand? (Long
Pause.)
[Another low-income teen started and
now manages a
successful entrepreneurship venture.]
I won’t stop playing basketball,
But I started learning how to play
golf.
So much clout, I am teeming up with
hope,
I’m now teaming up with folks
Who have enough to donate funds
In real large sums,
Everything in one basket, whole in
one,
Success hungry money like a Maddoff ?
–
White collar, blue collar, no
collar,
Crime is crime. Keep it legal,
My economy seems sluggish, I’m a
slugger,
Did I cover all the bases?
Nothing stolen.
Good moral fiber is just-good for the
colon.
I don’t want to be a show-off.
No disposable income for fiber
optics,
No uptick, austere lifestyle, no
aesthetics,
Don’t stare right now,
No collateral, not athletic,
Movement’s feeling unilateral,
Still, dedicated to my game,
Mindset like I’m in the playoffs;
Keeping it ethically responsible,
Staying far away from actions
leading upstate,
I just want my cash to grow, quickly
on the uptake,
So that I can have the time to do, sustainably,
Those meaningful things.
No rings yet, married to the game,
It’s time to refill my bucket.
It’s time to list them on the net.
Hopefully no bias,
I just hope to cast a net,
I’m gifting my way to a network,
Can I focus on my net worth?
I just want enough to give it all
away,
And still have more coming.
I’m so passionate about this plan,
really,
I can’t even take a day off,
It’s so much more than just money,
So many emotions to check off on my
bucket list,
I am so dismayed
For not getting on the graduation
list this May. –
Who knows?
I just want my light to glow,
Weather permitted, rainmaker, five
am,
First in line at the local bake
shop,
I just want to be the breadwinner,
I am up. You just let me chase the
bucks –
I just want to make it rain, dear
Ode to Rudolph – who knows. Read,
check.
(I just read the previous line
again.)
I can hear my pockets jingle,
I haven’t bought a brand-new pair,
for me,
In nearly fourteen years. It’s been
real.
I’ve been stacking chips, _ringles.
All rest under my mattress, paean,
Liquid assets, I’ve been racking
singles.
Attention real estate agents,
I’m an open book. I’m ready to
mingle.
Someday soon,
I’ll be ready for an open house.
I just want to leave behind
something besides
My funeral expenses. – That’s the
plan.
I’m ready to tackle the business
hustle,
Question is, can I do it all and
still be free? –
And still have purpose, and still
have hope,
And have the time to just be still,
When stillness speaks? –
Can I make the time? I can make it.
[Auburndale, Massachusetts,
neighbors learn sign language
on their own initiative to welcome
baby diagnosed as deaf.]
Is there more to life?
Is this the grand finale?
I can sense my generational
And ancestral victories
From my petri dish.
Spirit rich, at the core,
I just smell my roses,
Petrichor, I now tell myself,
“Do you not know who you are?”
The teenage me was not so eloquent.
My expressions seem so animated.
I’ve been eating my feelings like a
platypus.
I just feel so ill.
Analytical, Jungian psychology,
Where, oh where, is my animus?
Retail cannot heal.
Life is just too short for long
lines.
I’m learning to leave it all behind,
Namaste.
Physical bruises seem to go away
fast,
But emotional bruises left
unaddressed
Can last beyond a lifetime.
Generational hurt,
Can we address this cancer with
candor?
Why don’t we just talk about it?
Emotional expletives, musically
explicit,
Being dismissive can be addictive,
And can breed substantial addictions.
Silence.
Beyond the noise is diction. – Seek
love.
See beyond the flaws,
See the good, see the good in all,
Live your life in awe.
I can make a difference in so many
ways.
I just wish that she could tell me,
“I’m
so proud of you, ou, I’m so proud of you.”
There’s only one you. I love you,
mom.
(Pause. Fin.)
In unrelated news:
I don’t mean to bore you,
If you’re wealthy,
This is just my story,
Melic dreams on my mind,
Can you spare me, simply,
A moment of your time?
If I’m speaking on your dime,
I’m sorry,
Time to reel the credits.
I just felt like I needed to go full
charge,
Since this might be my only line of
credit;
Lack of financial literacy is an
academia-based epidemic.
Thank you for your interaction,
This indeed is my last transaction.
—
OPM,
Second tier spending,
Common
sense economics, [Bank: IDA]
Spend
the money that your money makes.
Present
thinking, forward thinking,
You
can overcome the past;
Delayed
gratification,
The
Stanford marshmallow experiment,
Can
you sacrifice eating out? – Out of the question.
Can
you pay off a small rental property
In
fifteen years? – What good will that do for
me?
If
you can’t pay it off in seven,
It
might not be a low-risk investment.
Does
it make you income,
If
you tallied the total retail cost
Of
all the stuff you have around,
Would
you have enough
For
a three percent down payment?
If
you’re lucky enough to have this luxury,
To
make things happen,
Are
you willing to save
For
five years after college
While
living in your momma’s basement?
Personal finance education,
leadership,
Community engagement, social
justice, mindfulness,
Self-fulfillment, love,
unconditional self-love,
Planning, goalsetting, life, active,
present, now –
Comments
Post a Comment
You did it! Your self-authorized voice is both mighty and lovely. Thank you for being you. Thank you for your existence. Thank you for your leadership.
With Admiration,
fern the poet