Why We Sing

We are human

We were created to do this
We own vocal chords &
possess the ability to make noise
We learned our ABCs that way

We blew bubbles in our chocolate milk,
jumped in Mommy's bed after she made it,
and ate our own boogers
We were children

We are young & old
and somewhere in between


We were born to Songs In The Key of Life
lived through Songs In A Minor
& we die to hymnals & prayers

We have memories

We need to continue legacies

We smile
We laugh
We are horrible at this
We are amused by how horrible we are at this

We are angry
We have at least 3 people
from our jobs
that we feel
need to die
We must get rid of this murderous feeling
We need to keep from screaming

We want someone to hear us

We know no one is listening

We want to be loved
We love others
We love curse words and crude conversations
We love love
We love hate
We hate
We hate
We hate guys & girls
We surely hate you

We hate ourselves

We can't see the tears coming down our eyes
so we gotta let the song cry
We are not Jay-Z
We cannot rap

We are guilty
We are heartbroken
We are orphans
We are pregnant & married
Single & divorce
We are back in love again

We are sneaky seductive sexpots
who know exactly what to do
with you in the palm of our hand

We want to impress

We want to express

We dance write drink eat
We are content angelic spirits
We wish to one day see our deity

We burn beats
bruise rhythms
itch lyrics
scratch harmonies
bleed melodies
and cry in chords

We are music

As I said
We are human

We breathe
We live
We are alive

and most importantly

We shower
(at least I do)
because man oh man
do we sound
acoustically amazing there

Deafening Existence

"Your life is never quiet"

That's what one of my "big sisters"
told me after I gave her a brief rundown
of all the things that's occurred
within the past month
of us not speaking

"It's been a doozy, sis"

I wasn't lying when I said that

It's been a month full of circus antics
Count 'em all
7/7s, 6 overdraft fees
only 5 days of pure peace
4 new phone numbers obtained and deleted
3 hearts broken (including my own)
2 close calls that could've landed me in prison
and 1 night of prayer
and I still have 0 answers

I just want my life to be quiet again

I've been trying to think of the last time
I danced to silence

My mom tells people I was a good baby
I didn't wake her
in the middle of the night with screams
I was a "happy baby"
in her eyes
and everyone else's apparently

Through adolescence & puberty
things stayed pretty mute for me
for the most part
I wanna say it was senior year
of high school when I first
embraced my loud

"To all you b***ches
that didn't want to give me the TIME OF DAY
WHEN I WAS HALFWAY TO OBESE:

SCREW YOU!
OH NOW I'M SEXY?!?!?
KILL YOSELF!"

From then on
I was as loud as the
parties and clubs
I lived in
"CAN I GET A LONG ISLAND?? A LONG ISLAND!!!
A... A L.I.T.!?!? OH NOW YOU HEAR ME!"

Still shouting
even in my poetry
My haiku (as rare as they come)
ring like middle school fire alarms
for example:

GOD IS LOVE, IF TRUE
NO WONDER YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO
BE A ONE NIGHT STAND

I WISH I COULD TAKE THE HAND
OFF THE TRIGGER OF THE MEGAPHONE
IN MY SOUL
I DON'T WANT TO BE LITTLE GIRLS
SCREAMING ON THAT ONE RIDE
IN THE AMUSEMENT PARK
I DON'T WANT MY LIFE
TO BE GUNSHOTS AND JET ENGINES
I WANT MY EXISTENCE
to be the moment you see
a firework burst
before you hear
the bang

It's time to be meek
I have to be quiet
My life must become a whisper

Is there any way
I can change my name
to "prayer"?

Voices

Am I the only one
that hears voices
in their head?

No... of course not

We all hear voices

From our parents to our pets
all of us have many voices
in our heads
What separates us
is the voice we
talk back to

There's always that one
that sticks out
isn't it?

If you could locate the start of it
you would think it's coming
from the space in between
the bottom of your heart
and the top of your stomach

It feels
like a warm sun shower
As if your mom's cooking
is flowing through your veins
turning your fingertips & toes
suddenly into pillows

This voice smells of jasmine
and tastes of
everlasting first kisses

And it sounds

It sounds like nothing

and everything

all at the same time

I remember the first time I heard this particular voice

I was five

I was sitting in a chair in a hospital
watching doctors do
whatever doctors do
in order to make babies
breath correctly

I remember hearing my mother start crying
after my brother stopped

The room froze
and a candle was lit
inside of me

The flame spoke

It sounded like me
only better
As if my voice was
combined with my loved ones'
both present and future
adding in some serious
Barry White baritone
It said:
"Jerel is going to be fine
He will live a healthy life"

Since then I've welcomed that voice
into my temple
Since then it's told me so many things:

"Go here... no, stay there"

"She's the one... no... NO... SHE'S the one!"

"Eat it...... you'll live"

"Ok... ok... what we're gonna do now is
put our clothes on
& get out
NOW!!"

"Shhh... don't worry
Regardless of what you think
they love you...
& they always will"

Now obviously
we the "great, all knowing
human beings" we are
of course we ignore
"The Voice"
from time to time

Maybe because we take it for granted a little
Maybe we know it'll never leave
We know it'll never change

We know the voice that said:

"Don't get in that car
Don't you dare start that ignition
Oh Jesus, you're driving"

is gonna be the same voice that says:

"Whatever you do, don't freak out"
after waking up
sitting on a shattered sunroof
inside of an overturned vehicle

I wish I was lying
when I say that
I haven't heard this voice in a very long time
I let it go
If it ever came back
I'd tell it
"I miss you
I miss you like my grandma that I never got to meet
I know you're there
You always have been
And I'm so sorry I haven't
listened to your song
If I utter your name
would you please
speak through me again
Please"

Everyone
has a name for their
"The Voice"

I call mine "God"

Dance Outside

I just want to dance outside with you

10 mini appendages interlocking
only when our bodies are close
Well let's say
3 to 4 inches away
from each other

We will be
two planets in orbit
of one another
Rotating, spinning
on our axis
I then, become
your sun
Hand-twirling your elegance
as it surrounds me

I wanna groove with you

Come here baby

Come close

Closer than close

Like waiting in line at
the DMV close
Or deliberately invading
personal space close

Allow my hands
to be a GPS
for your hips
Making necessary turns
to guide you
to your destination

Wouldn't this be bliss?

Beams of Heaven
carressing our souls
as the next door neighbor
we know as a star
plays peek-a-boo
with us
behind clouds

The rhythm of the atomsphere
pulsating through our bodies
as we croon karaoke
alongside songbirds

The acoustics out here are epic

I yearn to dance outside with you

But we can't
The weather sucks

Because there's flooding
behind your eyes
& a blizzard
within your heart

Mac & Cheese

Quick question

Can we be mac & cheese?

or maybe rice & beans
arroz con pollo
pb&j
steak & eggs please

Damn now I'm hungry

Let's try becoming
untainted liquids
i.e. Kool-Aid, coffee, or tea
and add in kisses
I mean
some sugar

Let's be sweet

Better yet

Let's be Jack & Coke
Cran & Vodka
Gin & Lemonade
Henny & Apple Juice
("Happy Juice" if you will)

Let's be rum & sprite
rum & pineapple
rum & grape juice
rum & orange juice
rum & ice

Can we just become rum?

Because well frankly

I love me some rum

Now I'm thirsty

Let's Be
Let's be
OOOH!!! I got it!!

Let's be a cartoon

Allow me to be
the Tom to your Jerry
the Elmer to your Bugs
the Wile. E. to your Road Runner

What I'm trying to say baby

is that I want to chase you
forever

so that I can be close to you

if even for just a second

Let's become one unforgettable entity
made of two separate ingredients
that are already incredibly dope
individually

Can we please...

be mac & cheese....