Return my ashes home,but first take me to my
father's compound where my bravery was formed.
For this is it,I was born for this papa,Isn't this
ashes of mine beautiful mama?
Let every one know I am back home again
sister,and brother fight no bullies in my sake no
more
Take me down the street in mama's finest pot,and
to the town's square where I use to fight and play,
Ricky is my friend,why don't you let him have some
ashes?Let him show it to the downtown gang I am
still around
Paint the town in my ashes and tell my girl Bisi not
to wash it with her tears.
You can blow me into the air as well,but warn the
breeze of life never to take me out of the land
again.
Kazeem Musa olawale.
I want to explode in Palestine
Like a firework would do
In the blue heavens
I want to shatter my blood like
Pieces of glass
I want to spread my true colors
Like a house the falls into
Bits of rock,
Like the missile that flies from
My enemy’s truck,
I want to explode in Palestine
Tell me,
Tell me now about all these lies
That have clogged my ears
Like a kitchen drain,
That have made me a fool
In my country’s name
Tell me,
Tell me what it means to be
Untamed
To be lost in the memory
Of a child unnamed
For nothing, they say,
Shall ever remain…
Nothing, they say,
Shall ever remain
Not thoughts, not dreams,
Not the feelings inside
Not the souls of the children
That have so innocently died
Tell me Allah, tell me
If it weren’t for you,
Then why…must I ever reside?
I can control the flow of tears.
Start a new nation of pioneers.
Build and teach a better school.
And I can split the atom of a molecule.
I can make what is yours mine.
Speak to the deaf community by sign.
I am the one who can drop the ax.
Take away or raise your tax.
I can write a best selling book.
Take what I want and not be a crook.
I can approve and sell you narcotics.
And I can make new antibiotics.
I can sweep you under the rug with a broom.
Give us more power in a technology boom.
You can say pretty much everything I do own,
because I can lead a nation with a microphone.
I can go until I want to stop.
I feel so alive to be on top.
Go anywhere, my reach is global.
You can't say anything my cause is noble.
In my tower I am secure.
In my position, my power is pure.
I can hand out a million vaccinations.
Let them all die in exasperation.
Its all under my command, its my right.
I can guide missiles by satellite.
You chose me as your number one.
You gave me the power of the sun.
A Soldiers Prayer
Now I lay me down to sleep
The weary soldier said
With a backpack for a pillow
And a ground-cloth for a bed
I dare not sleep too soundly
For fear I will not wake
If duty once more beckons
And action I must take
I pray to God my soul to keep
While I am in this place
That He will wrap me in his arms
This child of his embrace
Wipe away the fear I feel
As I face each new day
Understand my sorrow
For my brothers gone away
If I should die before I wake
I pray you will protect
Those that I have fought for
Their heartache not neglect
Please overlook their anger
They cannot understand
Why I had to go and fight
For someone else’s land
I pray the Lord my soul to take
If my time on earth is through
Forgive me my transgressions
But I did what I must do
With that the soldier closed his eyes
Then opened them again
And whispered “Thanks for listening Lord”
Til next we talk, Amen
Please, let me be, that is my human right to live without you controlling me. I gave
you my heart and head; knowing you are not for me. I relinquished my freedom to
be your prisoner and yet you want more. I submit to your tyranny and yet you still
terrorized me. I have decided to be subservient, and yet that is not good enough. I
am please to be your slave, and you have demanded more. Nothing I gave or will
give to you is good enough, unless you make choices for me. Thus, you own me and
you wish to do as you please; therefore, let me be me.
“Hence when did thy breasts hate to feed me?
Hence then haven’t they heaved to need me?
Oh Mother! Why art thou so silent?
Those bombs and those ammos from the machine guns, they bother me no more.
They sound like a lullaby to me.
Wasn’t it you who reassured me that ‘this is life’ even before I was born?
Now why do you still lie?
I heard Papa’s plea to let you go before they shot that merciless bullet into his head.
I saw it Ma, I saw it all...
ripped, stripped and writhing in pain,
I heard your final beg to let me go.
I cried then Ma, I cried aloud, I cried my best with all I could;
thought that hearing me cry they would let you go.
They never stopped and choked I lay.
My eyes still won’t open full and I only see darkness around.
Tears mixed with trickling blood have dried
and my voice too fragile to rise above the noise outside me.
Oh Mom! Why don’t you shout for me now?
Was it wrong that I was born to thee?!
Why have they taken it all even before I can understand
in a life time or more what war and hatred is all for?
Tell me Mom, tell me now from up above
Why won’t a bullet silence me too?”
He tells me it’s his duty
My chest caves in
Tears wash over me
I feel sick all over
I do not leave his side for weeks
Fear won’t let me loosen my grip
He’s dressed and armed
I can watch his excitement bubble
The cries of women and children assaults me
Soothing words of their men fall on deafened ears
The buses roar a warning of departure
His lips touch mine
In his breath I taste his courage
I feel his heart beat with dedication
When our lips part all I taste is my defeat
My eyes remain closed
I can’t watch him walk away
I don’t want to see his back
The thunder of fifteen hundred men marching
Is drowned by women grieving
Our fear and pain comingles
We cry out loud and inside ourselves
Pleas to God, to saints and symbols
All sound the same
Please don’t let my man die!
Why won’t my memory of you fade?
You always said you had my back, but at what cost?
The bullet wound through your chest tells me where we stand-in the middle of a bloody
gang war.
Surrounded by blood and innocent bodies.
I bet I can count the total amount, give me a sec.
3, 15, 50, 200 dead bodies on the ground floor.
What ever happened to our dreams-living the millionaire dollar life, when all we have is
thirty cents in our back pocket?
We stood together ‘till the end, but what now?
I really don’t want to get shot.
At least not like you did-by your own girl who just happened to be in a gang war.
We knew our luck wouldn’t last forever, chasing and snatching dreams with no failures.
Even now,
as I see you on the ground, as I hear the gun shots, as I see bodies falling, I can safely
say “We’re the luckiest people alive.”
The Lyrical Hold, A Million Dollars Story, Danced by a Marionette
the manipulating privilege of possession
is all yours
i do not prevent my undue bending knee
but, place it where it is forced
enclose in its captivity
are swan like performances
dancing as a Marionette
flowing in a air of blood stained counted measurements
with graceful silent nightmares of custom influences
raw shaking wings can not
take to heavenly Flight
but are now cursed and weaken
by Celebrity like demonic god, admirers
hovering over a lifeless non-moving string puppet
pull me this way, and i lift my arm
wiggle me this way
and i will, scream out no alarm
dress me as, cute as a clown
hand on back, neck held straight
and i will certainly dance it your way
lyric to lyric, cheek to cheek
held in a million dollar captivity
for not one single soul to see
DREAMS OF A KOSOVO GIRL
KOSOVO 1999
Can you tell me where my friends have gone?
I've so many things I have to share
of rock guitar, and building on
a dream that hides away somewhere.
Can you tell me where they took my friends?
I know I heard some shots that day
it is the sound that never ends,
here in my mind, it's there to stay.
Can you tell me what that smoke might be,
over the hill where I used to live?
It looks like hope removed from me
does life not have some more to give?
Can you tell me where my youth has gone?
I would fall in love, if only I could,
but seeing life, as life goes on,
I wonder if I ever should.
I sit here watchin’ war again on-line
Excitement builds once more as ratings soar
Tell me mister please, can you spare my family this time?
See I don’t wanna see my momma cry anymore
Those folks with guns can’t seem to stop the planes
They drop bombs everywhere, blow craters in my life
Please Lord stop the hatred, that never seems to wane
Tell me Lord please, will I ever see an end?
Please Lord can you stop?……the suffering and the strife
Please Lord can you stop?.....the suffering and the strife
03/09/11
4:24pm
Private Dribble died today
'twas in his 19th year
a nickname's all he left me with,
his name I didn't hear.
He couldn't speak, but as he died
he asked me with his eyes,
to reason out his passing;
find truth among the lies.
His death was less than gallant,
the conflict void of reason,
and rife with chair-borne rangers,
war profiteers, and treason.
So when he left me standing there
condemned to watch him die,
I didn't have an answer for
the simple question,
Why?
Written November, 1969, Nuy Ba Den firebase, Song Be, Viet Nam
Dear John was not what I came to be
It’s a Dear Jane sent to me overseas
As if duty isn’t calling and I have the time to read
It’s only five words that have been written to me
“I love you, I’m sorry,” seems like empty narration
When I’m fighting here for both my country and my nation
Like a bullet piercing through an emptied hollow chest
The pain I feel from the wound lies beneath my Kevlar vest
Words escape my mind and I feel my heartbeat drop
As if my artery is spurting and my blood will not clot
It’s not enough to finish me despite the deadly blow
No matter how much I think I’ll die here all alone
I'll dig my fingers in and I'll fight it every breath
The blackness will not take me this will not be my death
Five years, five words, is that all that I’m worth?
One word a year will be my enduring curse
Love can’t stop a bullet but it can make you bleed
Now I finally realize I’m the only one I need
Destruction
You have taken aim at me
Green-eyed of my determination
Trapped as if in some third world country
Constantly dodging bullets
Wishing for my down fall
Praying for my Destruction
Only feeds my purpose and willpower
Despite how I’m seen through your eyes
I still strive, struggle, survive
Defy the odds
The last person you’ll find hiding
I was born tough
Evolved to be resilient through this battle
It is only pain ~ I will recover and thrive
Even after torture, neglect, and heartache
So, Plead for my Destruction
It just brings me closer to your defeat
Smile now, believing that victory is yours
I’ll allow you to think you’ve succeeded
Take your best shot by looking up
Because on top is where I’ll be
You’ll never be able to destroy me
You knock on my door and tell me there two countries at war. And you want me to help
fight in this war. I will fight in this war but is it really worth it me fighting for these two
countries that are at war.
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