Glad LAD

And even as she lays there asleep
My thoughts are awaken with her
As we lay down the past for the presence of each others’ day

To give and to share our hours in one breath

We retire through time
While our thoughts are eternal

Seeking wisdom and understanding together

trusting the guide of the unseen man that I felt in her stare

She is real! And through her I know He's realier

The mere fact she lives so beautifully is testimony
To His attention to detail and love for mankind

And as she sleeps
I pray our dreams are shared
In sync with a love that's progressing

A Love...everlasting! 

I've never  felt deserving

nor willing to be charged with such a feeling

but this bliss with eyes wide open

I’ve died and came alive again

New life in this thoughtful stare

In the air for she has never laid beside me

But all i see is the image of her closed eyes

Staring back at me in a dream so real

As moments attempt to steal our breath

They’re welcomed as they forge more age to fortune

This love tune to set a record on long play

So sweet, it’s stuck on repeat

But for now I’ll just sit here and stare

Wishing that as I type these words

They all come through

Cause I’m really glad I met you!

Country mend

These tears beg you to see what we see
Standing in the midst of dry land
Seeking refuge in a palace that you have built with my blood

Sweat and tears were not all you took
As these hands toil nailless

All eaten because hunger is across the land

Made up faces are like made up minds
False happiness and false hope
written on a cheque checked by a fan set on high

High bills like high winds come blowing
As i keep blowing high trees all knowing
That these winds are blowing my thoughts
And knowing this last puff will blow in
My face now showing the same high bill

Im high! 
this high is not lowering...

These highs are lowering my existence

A zero! No expectations of the silver lining
I’m caught whining in the midst of the gathered tired

Sick of dreaming and singing that “we shall overcome” crap

It never ends, as false hope and false life fills the air
The scent of self permeates the fabric of the village
More spillage of priceless blood that soaks the new foundation

Another soul on the wall
Calling! Screaming to a dressed up puppet with painted ears
An illusion of a listener, beckoning to a brush to stroke an ego

Seeking a hero that's looking for me
Thinking the same "can you set me free?"

If we're told we're all zeros then how can we believe a hero when he appears
No longer aware of the price sold to him
But baptized in the real value of his worth

A real hero!

Speaking languages we only dreamed for our untouchable selves
Representative of everything we wanted to be until we bought his blood from the mall

a mere picture hanging on the face of the wall

we've wed the ideas that's stuck in his head the ideas of a man that's dead

no zeal to wield the wheels of change because we came up short

Mr. King give our deaf ears a ring

lift us from the melodrama episode that’s called Obama

cause we thought that we made it there! But that was just the beginning

The struggle continues in the midday sun

Where the lines are long and justice is undone

While we sing war songs of another nation

Our discrimination is one to one

No people, no nation, no destiny in between

Just bandits, killers and politicians for the green

You’re killing our heroes, feeding us woes of yesteryear that were never there

Rampant colors and escapades that you’ve deemed necessary

Division is key to this monstrosity you call democracy

Stop building the stage for mayhem

You keep giving us reason to condemn

Our heroes of old will speak through the ground

No whispers, but a SHOUT for that ill gotten crown

We the people bleed for you to see

Where diplomacy has failed

We’ll brandish new weaponry

The Search

By design the stars aligned to map a journey

To pave an unchartered route, tarred with levels of truths and halves

A plan bigger than the eye we use to see

No concept of eternity which it took

This finite mind is stalled at the prelude

We walk on these truths

On roads we’ve paved as spirits first

With a sense of familiarity with every rest of our instep

These stars shade us

And with a coated tongue we taste what we know to feel like we remember

Our lives and lies align

Searching philosophies as detours to slow the oncoming agenda

We are never able to run, not from this sun

Nor from this one… no matter the route we choose

Our prayer we hunt, as we are hunted to stay the course

These lies and lines align

These half truths half step in the light

at the back of our minds we wonder

while we look to the stars we’ve signed in design

and still we are lost as we’ve forgotten where home once was

Our world

This world!....this world...

this world owes you nothing but trouble and the blues!
messed up moods, tangled with flint shaped faces, and promised dissatisfaction

This world!...this world....

this world brings you pain & shame, hunger and misery!
all of the things that make you, me!
to be alive, and not to be free...in this world...this world...

This life!..this life...
this life, is filled with ups and downs, ins and outs...
don't expect to wait to get served, walk to be right!
you've got to fight, for every dream had, in your childish, starless nights

For this life...in this life...
you've got to get down, dig in, and shine!
cause even the blind have made leaps and bounds with their handicap
what makes you different!?
sitting on momma's lap, sucking on dried breast!
moaning & screaming, still having her clean your mess!?
My brother, my sista! it's time to rise!

Cause this life...this life!
you've to to kill or be killed, get or get nothing at all, wake up or get trampled!
Cause nothing comes easy! NOTHING!
Nothing comes on a platter...and if it does you should make that a matter of prayer!
cause i can assure you, for long...it's not gonna be there, it will be shared, and even taken away!
For some people may say, you don't deserve this!...GET AWAY!

So what you gonna do!
Are you gonna be swept away, in your sailing day, thinking "i can't today! but tomorrow i'll try!"

Tomorrow! Tomorrow!...
Tomorrow is promised to no one, tomorrow, is the darkest of any midnight...
Tomorrow, can only be had, and you may even be glad, by tomorrow, because of TODAY!

Your sweat, of which you can pay!
Your voice that can be heard miles & miles away!
The nations that can be had, with the flick of a wrist, the wink of an eye, and a hand shake of confidence.

Heights of great men, reached and kept were not attained by...
crying to your momma!
mopping on the street corner!
or thinking that you've got the most baby momma drama...or by
choking on your seed!
puffing on your weed!
or looking at the chick next door, wondering "i wonder how she breathes at night!?"

You see, for this world, in this life...
we've got to jump fear, and get there...
yea...there!...
the place were we all belong as a people, as a nation, as a world...
that place called unity!
cause in you! and me!...there is that free we all dream about...

that joy inside, so we can all scream and shout!
cause even though this world have had the despaired and the sad!
There's coming a day, that we all can say!
Hallelujah! PRAISE GOD! for today!....today is a new day!!

Social Media and the Church

Jesus’ mandate to his disciples was simple: “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.” – Mark 16:15. At that time that seemed to be a herculean task for the disciples, but the mandate was much more fulfilling than any challenge posed to them. In this new era, the world is now virtually accessible and one does not have to “go” into all the world, but rather one can now “Google, tweet, post, like and share” all the world.

The 21^st Century has created various opportunities through the advent of social media.   More so, any believer in Christ’s kingdom can now easily fulfill this mandate to spread the Good News wherever we may be.  Access to Social media is now as common as universal primary education.  Everyone is either directly or indirectly influenced and informed by it, so doesn’t this make the mandate become easier for His disciples?

The church now has a major opportunity to not only meet its members and friends that are associated with their fellowship, but to now capitalize on these opportunities presented by the advent of social media by reaching the masses beyond their borders.

Tweets, posts, blogs, shares, links and likes are the new hot words due to the social media era. The gospel, by definition, is the teaching of the life of Jesus Christ and with  these social media platforms; Facebook, Twitter, Google + to name a few, they have all made it quite easy to now consume and create multimedia content that can teach the masses of Jesus. The world has successfully used these platforms to constantly inform their subscribers of the latest news, the hottest gossip and the most current update for the next best application in the market, but what about the church? More so, what about the Caribbean church? What is the Caribbean church doing with these amazing and influential sites that seem to have the attention of the majority of its population which are the youth?

With a more local focus, Churches in Guyana have been grappling with this opportunity. Fundamentally, they’ve tried to use these platforms exactly the way the North American, Asian and European territories have done it, forgetting that we don’t have to use their method wholesale, but we can tweak it to suit our congregations. Along with tweaking, we also have to effectively communicate with the congregation using our own language that is unique and attractive that would automatically appeal to our masses.

The art of social media is attractiveness in text, visuals and sound. The church now has to form messages from the Word of God that will be impactful yet simple enough to fulfill Jesus’ mandate. The next step after conceptualizing these messages is dissemination – which is already catered for by these social media platforms – but this can only be reached if the members play an active role at the dissemination stage. This should be easy, seeing that we’re all mandated by the same Jesus to “Go into all the world and teach…” or is it?

The effective utilization of our networks as members – through the advent of social media - can expedite this God-given mandate. The “Church” – which is not the building we congregate in on Sundays, but rather “we” as individuals are the church – should rethink and reconsider our ways in reaching the masses.  It is the belief of many that the Senior Pastor and its board members– have to come up with these plans and strategies to fulfill its God given mandate. If we’re to continue with this attitude, each of us would single handedly obstruct the realization of every soul coming to hear of the Lord Jesus Christ. “I’ve come not to condemn you”, but to encourage you as believers in the Kingdom of God to remember the mandate and to use these same social media platforms that we use on a daily basis to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ. 

Titles

These titles humble me still
For I'm no giant
The road is long ahead
But I've taken a glance behind me
Only to see where I've come from
From there to this day I've grown!

These titles humble me still
Recognition is not easy
Its testimony to the fact that
I've worked willingly
And the responsibilities grow like I've grown
To stay servant to you my people I thank you!
While these titles humble me still

Adapting to Climate Change

Climate change is a global problem. BE forward thinking to combat this phenomenon. We got to be smart with energy
Adapting to Climate Change

Into thine hands

Into thine hands I commit...
My heart, through a heart that's yours already
To know that it has been found and recommitted
To sturdy hands that can care

I commit me into thine hands
Through a mouth that claims your truth
For the fruit of this gift is not ready to bare
In nor out of season or reason within a crying temple

To your hands I command another
Sent with a strict truth to stay
Stay true to spirit and spirit alone
Take charge angels, you must

Take hold of all that I am
And all I ever will be
I permit thee
For now and forever

Into your hands I commit thee
Forever and always
This will be
A thumping prayer

A prayer that will never sleep
A prayer that will never cease
For I am with thee
into your hands I commit thee

Write the right

There was a slash!
Eyesight blurry
The gash was across my chest
My hands all bloody

As knees grew weak
So did the world I stood in
Fading with the fall
All collapsed

With that slash
Egged the heat of battle
Lying there alone
The clashes swords were all in my head

My mind manifested a deep cut
That sword flung towards my flesh
Registered with such depth
Bleeding me quickly

"I see you holding a pen
And as you use that pen
I see you healing
I see you writing the right of your being"

"Writing the right of my being?!"
I played that like a mantra
Marching towards my minds' war
Avenging my lifeless, lonely body in the dust

All armed with pens
All edged to fierceness
This ground was holy
The purge aged ready

They plunged each point of their pens
Struck within the belly of the beast
Mauled each marching minion
Murdered each mindless mole

My pen avenged my mind
Released my righteousness
Replaced my resentment
With a cloak of wisdom

They won the battle
And the war
In light of a genocide
A fight for peace was won

I coughed blood as my eyes made sense of strength
Hands stained by a war I thought into being
I didn't lay in the dust anymore
I was on a blank page, with a pen in my hand
Ready to write the right of my being

Prayed today

I prayed today!
Prayed the world will understand
"We cant always get what we want
But we'd always get what we need"

I prayed today!
Prayed that I'd understand
The still, small voice that speaks
In a great big multitasking world

I prayed today!
Prayed that they prayed for your mercy
And wealth of understanding
To withstand the utterances of the enemy

I prayed today!
Prayed that I'd come to know
Know more of what your kingdom can bring
So I can serve it

I prayed today!
Prayed for you, especially
That you'd see the spirit of things
And not listen to anything else that speaks

I prayed today!
For the peace of nations
And the peace of man
And the peace of self

I prayed today!
I prayed today!
That i'd pray everyday
Without stopping

Peace is needed

Peace is needed!
as the search for the whole began
Parts of the systems quaked

A stretch of tar lined the path
Within all those crumbs were now hidden
No guide towards home

This grew unfamiliar
And as the caged bird sings
Feathers blew awkwardly in the wind

Even the sky turned gray
While the tar held true
Hardening hopes of a home so far

The caged bird sang
Not for a beautiful day
But to be a part of any

Peace is needed!
And as the search milled on
The way got crowded

Experience was sceptre in hand
"One eye man was king in blind eye country"
Like sheep aligned, a mob like trail

East bound journey towards Mecca
Blistered feet fed pain
The sun is unkind even in gray skies

A melody to quell the inside
And as the caged bird sings
That birds fixation is guide to focus

The night grows cold
A passing wind finds a wanderer wanting
"Where is home?"

The dark envelopes
A flame alight
Just light and senses now

But peace is needed!
As the dark is never quiet
Neither is the midday

Seek the soul in hilly places
Risk a body to get there
Silence the mind to find it
Right where peace will be

Invictus - cover by Ruqayyah Boyer, Cinematography by: Yaphet Jackman

Speak (Title Piece)

Soul lovers

Hours would pass because hours never mattered
Time was no boundary for we are timeless and still free
You said we made a contract with God to be
And now we reside in time to see what that bond was made of

Just like old times
We knew we knew forever
We clicked, because we ticked within the time of this world
Our bodies never mattered,  it was our souls that twirled

Consumed like before
This realm has never seen such a connection
Such A vibration that causes chain reactions in the galaxies
But Why did we choose this plane?

Our spirits were colourless
But somehow we shaded them with this tattered flesh
Impure dust that was functional to span this vile earth
Why here? Why now?

What was our significance within this crust?
Wasn't our love celestial enough?
Did we have to throw us to the test of time?
Did we have to relearn who we are in this mortal form?

And now we abide at bay
Sipping our due wine from separate glasses
Thinking about that clause
That clause, for a pause in this contract we made

Searching our minds for the answers...
Maybe thats the answer in itself
Knowing the weakness of this form, we try!
Tried to test a boundless love in weakened fickle flesh

Swore to harness the fire we make within a million suns
Pledged to steady quivering lips and leaping hearts
We knew how we'd feel when we met
We knew we'd reform this earth and all that abide within

But the 3rd party beckconed
I wish that others choose their own destiny
Our love could change that free will on this plane
And so we vowed again

We'd talk
We'd kiss
We'd reminisce
On the times our souls have shared
But baby... we're too dunamis
I'll guess I'll see you next life time

33/3

I deem you worthy!
Open validation was never my forte
But I scribe these words in your honor

We took it higher!
And maybe what I saw that day was right
But I think now neither of us would've evolved

It was permissive will
Something that's "ok" but not the best
We didn't settle for less!
We always yearned for more from us

But at our different levels that meant something else
You added up, believe me you did
But how could I count more if you weren't you yet?
I knew I saw your future, but now I know its was my reflection

You were me!
The unready, steady logic seeker
Who would guess and guess again until the very end was clear
The clear vision of how still I was in time before I drew strength

I was...
That sage...
That timeless spirit that found you for that time
And for that time only that you needed me
nothing more, nothing less

We clinged!
And from this plane, it was natural to see
Cause im that sage, and you're that page
From my first version of "3"

Don't get it twisted
I set out to tell you of your beauty
Of your grace and your royalty
But babe can't you see
What we thought was not to be

We stopped adding up
Cause I stopped adding up to where true love is
Shot past my purpose and got in the redesign
I read the signs, when they should've been read to me
I pulled a page from my history
November 29, 03'

At that time, you were that sage
And I was you!
You told me how much I'd be, but I never believed
Never conceived I'd see the day the script would flip
Karma surely is a cold heartless bitch

A ruthless mistress all the same
Taking hearts to play games
While saying it's a truce

The stain is pain
But hearts have gained wisdom in stormy minds
The most beautiful things are born outside the twine...
Of peace

And so the role was played again
Me the rooster, you the hen
And then the thread broke

I must be leaving
You not believing
I should be gone
You think im wrong
But who knows...

Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks
But if the heart feeds on you, its you it'll surely seek
Pressed down, shaken together and running...
Over with time, over this time, over and... why? (Sigh)

It wasn't meant to be this way
You had to go, I needed to stay
Stay to learn this lesson again
So this script can come to an end

And now you'll see
That in as much I needed to crash and burn
The "I" was always me
while "I" was always "you"
And "you" was always "me"
So the "I" was really "we"

"We" crashed!
and we're burning!
For God alone to see
That we were a reflection of one another
Version "33/3"

Those words are "hers"

This is an entry!
For it must be said for my sanity

I've heard this all before
Same script, different cast!
Forgive me for sounding crass, but I am!

Like an age old mantra
It sung to me
"There's something about you..."
I never knew and neither did they
Until one day someone called it a "gift"

That thought drift some ways from my mind
But I kept it!
I didn't trip, thinking on those words
"A Gift, a gift, a gift?"
This made me stiff

In all the wrong places
Took a nose dive in the bee hive
I was thriving!
Story of my life was
"Why you not jiving?"

"Look upon these seas of hunny bees
Where is your sting?!
Ain't nothing but a chickennnnn..."

Head all boiled
Snake uncoiled
It was time to sink in

And that's where it had to begin
The script repeats itself
Metamorphosis in true physics
The soul never grew old

"There's something about you!"
Oh how I knew that number
Ready to tango, but with a whole lot less
Now under the stress of knowing the end

"It's not me ya see...
I'm just the precursor
But right here! right now!
You know that you're closer!"

"Cause i'm that test
I'm not that sign
I'm that detour
Cause your love is blind and so am I!"

"I'm not ready to go steady
Cause, there's something about you that's not me!
I can say that now, cause I've played that... how?"

"I can't remember when I fell in
Hell in
The dwelling of this "gift" that made me stiff
And I couldn't understand why I wanted to be a better man"

And so I told you!
And I'd breathe
And you agreed! That I'd succeed

But then you made a step
Just like my history creep
Back into my face again
To say you'll stay until the end

And there and then I run again
Counting to the top of 10
Because I never claimed you!
"But there's something abouttttt..."

You don't even say the words
Because your words... are just...like hers!
And hers and hers !
Not mine but yours!
Your words...are just... like hers...
and hers...!

Don't sink me when I dip
I've stayed true to a beating heart
And when it lies I trip!

I am made of love
And this is true
I've never lied to you
But but my heart has

it wants to love you
Because i've never loved it
Like a wagging dog
I told it "SIT!...
I'm not playing with you!"

And so it roamed
Barking all around trying to find a new home
Cause home was not where my heart was!

Love is not blind
And cannot take over your mind
But love is free!
Free to love who it loves...unconditionally
"In spirit and in truth!"

In spirit and in truth?
Yes the root cause of this equation
The reason for this dilation in my eyes
When I can hold you
And say to you
"I LOVE YOU!"
And you'll know its true

For those words will be mine
Not yours!
In spirit and in truth!
In spirit and in truth!
In spirit...and in truth!

And this spirit has found its heart
Learning to love, learning to trust again
Cause the tail stopped wagging
And the master is warm again

Never will he hear again
"There's something about you!"
And not know its truth
Until the spirit gives you utterance
To says the words that's not "hers"
Or hers...or hers!

Come now, heart

Come now heart
Tell me a story
Remember what you said

Remember what you said about
Staying with me forever
About being my sun and my sky
As we basked in playful moments
We thought would never die

Remember you held me
And told me that you cared
That the beat we felt together
Was our sync that none would share

Come now heart...
Tell me a story
Remember what you said

Remember we held hands in the sight the sky
Stared deeply at our souls and swore we'd never lie
Stayed true to our words and tied our signs
There was nothing that could separate us
We were the essences of each others tongues

Come now heart...
Tell me a story
Remember what you said

Remember where we sat and planned
Where we reached with our minds
Mine was yours and yours was mine
We were inseparable

And even when I strayed...you stayed
Seeking a vile direction, you paid attention
It's where I needed you most, you came up short
your eyes contort my actions
Now there's no satisfaction

Come now... heart...
Tell me a story...
Begin with the truth

The past has no lasting memory
The bliss has gone up yonder and now I'm here
Alone...
Staring you in the face

Tell me! How have I reached this place?
Tell me! Why are the stains so deep?
Tell me!... How did we get here?!

Oh my heart...
You once bled for me
You once shed this led for me
Why Now do you retrieve?

You hatched to conceive this treachery
To recall this misery we never knew
To tend and mind this whirlwind we dared to brew
And now... this... just... kills me!

But remember...
"Never"
That's what you said to me!
"Never would I hurt thee!"
...So who am I?

Come!...now?!...heart...
Don't grow wary
I'm not scary
I'm just afraid

You've left me here
Alone and timid
Because I've never lived without you
What should I do?

Come...now...
heart...?

No sense of identity

She said: "I don't like dem drums!
I don't like that sound
make it something else!"

something that's a part of her
She painted in another color.
Sold to her as just a piece of bad history
Or probably just something to admire!

That sound that's alive in her
where one can never escape
but as she denies
I hear my ancestors cry and ball from a swollen face!
"another one fall from grace!"
when she threw her crown that is rightfully hers to the ground

into the hands they were ripped from
for her freedom
but she don't like dem drums!
She don't like dem drums!

What could it have been?!
Charcoal woman thinking her skin is sin
Trying all kinda thing to feel like
"Yes! I winning! I fit in!
Trading her value for a "lighter" melanin

They selling you a fad, For all you had
Cause Ya done lost it already
Ya honor
Ya dignity
Ya pride

But the story, is not just fuh she
Let's talk about the wanna bes
the Weezies, the rockafellas, and the MMG's

The niggas that would make niggas loose their mind
The ones that lost their souls even before time
How could dis be right
The culture of a jail cell hit the lime light

I doan understand it all
We pullin everything from dem
And den we wondering, is wha happenin
De children dem culture
Suffering poliomyelitis

Public ministers calling this a crisis
But what is this really
How can your blackness make you wary
Isnt this scary?!

A color I've never seen fade
Always beaming strong
And yes I brag
It tek a real long time fuh dis black skin to sag

I find this funny
All this marvex and symba
As opportunities to make dolla
High tops and colored boxers
To mek man hip

Doan mind "is summa time"
In a seasonless country
When big truck and Kelly gon piss pun all a we

But wait!
Is why I talking trini
Cause I wanted to feel like a Guyanese
that loss they identity

Broken vessel

We reside in the danger of broken vessels.
Where each looks upon the other
longing for the understanding and comfort of the other
In full view of their brokeness.

Who gets more sympathy?
who heals before the other?
That doesn't matter!
We both bare pain, we both bare pain!

And as we reach out to touch the other
the feeling is pure
but the memory of that touch on that spot offends.

"you caused me pain!"
this must drive you insane
...So will their be understanding?
In full view of brokeness,
There is an unspoken truth.

"i wish you no harm!"
but the memory of that touch sure doesn't feel that way...
The memory of that offence
When fingers glide across scales of scars

Will we ever forget?
This flesh will allow no further harm
There's no more room for new scabs
So are we to build on old sores?

Jaded emotions that harbor many a moment
None with your name, but all just the same
Jaded! Shattered and dismayed
Asking questions of a new page

We reside in the danger of broken vessels
But must we stay there?
Life seeker in the walls of a sharded climb
Each cut deters but is paved to our wholeness

We may reside and die not knowing
Not knowing the scent of new love
Not knowing how close we were
Not knowing how much we meant

Who's going to heal?
Why must we reside in this jaded memory?
Vessel...you choose
Which route must be used.

In awe

Nothing wanted to go wrong for everything was...
Right... at the time when the moon peaked...
I...peeked above my glasses at the right time...
To greet you the way you wanted me to...

So close to you I felt my heart beat...in my hands
in my hands... that's where you were?
This time...Beating to the same rhythm
Like the one that synced our minds

We Walked the walk
We talked the talk till we sat and dined
To a huge helping of one
and the other!

Thine be the glory of a deep love story
Ontop of social constructs and surely
Between searching questions, that were mandatory

Anxiety at its best!
Through strong stares and willfull articulation
There was a notion that begged the question
"Why won't you kiss me already?!"

But kissed we have!
I've kissed the mind of a kindren soul
That soothing resonance that makes me...
...hold... my...breath

when our eyes met...
Like poetry
You embodied me

Soulful yet helpless in a stare so deep
How can one stand on a hill so steep?
A downward slide to this golden creek
Where soliloquy and imagery finally meet

Broad strokes, turn narrow
While joy takes sorrow
You drink, I swallow
The wine I'd follow just to have a glass

The class with which you turn a pen without a page
You engage my every sense, you've reached the inner stage
to see a winery of untamed pleasantries

We've shared such fond memories in just our meeting
What if it were 10...or 20...or Zen!
But there I go again
Riding the raise of your brow
In a fixed stare to guide a returned glare to your lips

The sweetest words unsaid
Everything is happening in my head
Or is it yours?

I feel it ours...
As hours pass with no stopping
No stopping to take a breath from these unsaid words
Right now I'm...breathless

I "sigh" in my need to breathe
Wishing never to say goodbye
To stay in that air that's mine
That's yours... for hours and hours
Until I can't breathe again...
I swear it true...
I'm in awe of you!