My Cry For Mama…

People say that we can never live forever, but forever I will hold you.
Deep within my soul, wish I was there to console you.
My heart sheds many tears and many wounds still remain,
but I understand that God had to steal you from your pain.
Will things ever be the same, without your laughter and your wit?
I bet you’re talking Prince’s ear off, probably giving him a fit.
You were a force to be reckoned with, that we can admit.
But your company was grand, for many hours we could sit.
Ups and downs we experienced and hard roads we traversed.
But I already miss you yelling, “Get my make-up bag out of my purse”.
Strong willed and strong minded, pure power in your essence.
Now I long for the chance to spend an hour in your presence.
But your life is not yet over; it’s time for you to get your wings,
then fly as high as they will take you and let the heavens sing.
Yes, I’m going to miss you mama, that’s a fact that can’t be missed.
But I know God called you home, because you’re the next angel on His list…

~ Jah Soul

360 Degrees of Perception

Hey Soul…
What if you were actually born a white man?
Would you still stand there like a militant rebel?
Preaching to everyone about that blue-eyed devil.
Would you still complain about black people’s pain and suffering,
or would you go on with you life like it was nothing?
Would you still be adamant about our black President
or would your political ties lie more towards the Republican side?
Would it still have hurt your heart to see what was done to Trayvon
or would you have cared less?
Yes, that’s something to weigh on…
Right now, it’s a fact that you are pro-black
but would you still be a part of that pack if God
came and took your melanin back?
And you…
What if you were born a black man?
Would you still stand on the sidelines gazing;
while black men are experiencing police brutality,
senseless shootings and tasings?
Would you still be affected by the black man’s plight
or would you grab a megaphone and jump in to the fight?
Trying to climb out of the ghetto but never seeming to gain any traction.
Would you finally praise and appreciate the government’s affirmative action?
Would you understand the source of the black man’s anger?
Always being looked at as an animal; a permanent danger?
Everywhere you go, you draw looks of suspicion…
I bet then you would probably start paying attention…

– Jah Soul

Konscious Thoughts

I want to share this quote with the masses. “You have to become that which you are not before you can become that which you are”. Now at first glance, you might be thinking, “what?” so allow me to expound on it a little.
How would you know tall if there was no short? How would you know hot if there was no cold? How would you know if you were a bad or good person if you never encountered a bad person?
In my younger days, I was not the man I am now. I had a temper, was unfaithful to women and had no regard for my life. But, as I got fired from jobs because of my temper, losing and hurting good women that I dated and putting myself in situations that could’ve cost me my life, allowed me the opportunity to be the man that I am now. These past situations, along with my incarceration caused me to decide that I no longer wanted to be the man I was before. I know what’s on the other side of the fence and what comes with it. I made the choice not to experience that nonsense anymore. I now choose peace instead of chaos, love instead of hate and to seek knowledge and wisdom instead of ignorance and foolishness. I also appreciate these things more because I know and understand the pain and tribulation that comes with its counterparts.
So, do not beat yourself up when you find yourself wearing those layers of cloth that were not cut from conscious fabric. Acknowledge them, realize them and decide if they are conducive with the image of who you really want to be as a person. If it is not, change them immediately so that you may become that of which you are; Konscious…

– Jah Soul

Lifetime Foes

Age and youth do not mix
Age is a marriage, a constant companion
Youth is the hot date, the quick fix
Age and youth go to war like opposing foes
Youth strikes without thinking
Age contemplates strategy and battle woes
Youth is spirited, wild and untamed
Age is calculating, reserved, claiming no fame
Youth is swift like the wolf
with lupine grace
Age is slow like the tortoise
moving in a set direction, keeping steady pace
They cannot, will not live forever
Age cares too much, youth is like whatever
Age is benign, youth I beseech
Age knows many things, youth I must teach
It’s a pleasure to try to make them co-exist
Now I’m experiencing them both in betwixt
As I live each day, I’m learning
Age and youth do not mix…

– Thomas D. Payne

Poetry In Motion

The universe. Many of us know what the universe is and what it consists of. But, how many of us have ever questioned why we call it the “universe”? The true meaning of the word is so profound that it unveils our true reason for being here and what our purpose is.
First, let’s break down the word universe into simpler terms. Uni, as we all know, refers to one. A uni-cycle has only one wheel. Unique means the only one of it’s kind. Unite means to make or become one. So, the uni in universe is referring to one of something.
The definition of verse is “writing in which words are arranged in a rhythmic pattern”. Verses are groups of lines forming units, which creates a poem. When you ask a person who rap’s to “spit a verse”, you are asking him or her to deliver a couple of lines of lyrical content in a rhythmic pattern. So in essence, our universe is a single line of poetry, or as I like to call it “God’s one poetic expression”.
This, to me, explains why everything in our universe coincides as one very organized body of matter and energy. Just the way that the universe seems to operate in a perfect order is very poetic to me. A poem is usually very organized and written in a particular style. Usually, there are four or five stanzas with four lines or verses in each stanza and each stanza would have it’s own identity. We have billions of stars and planets in our universe, yet we never hear of them colliding into each other. Each one has it’s own space and it’s own identity.
It is believed that our own planet is the only planet in our solar system equipped to sustain an abundance of life. It was created with us in mind. Everything on Earth works in a precise order to allow us, and all other life forms on this planet, to live in harmony with each other. Every life form on this planet knows its purpose, with the exception of mankind.
I truly believe that the Supreme Being created us to experience life in an array of different ways. When we are born, we are like a blank sheet of paper and as we go through life, each experience we encounter adds a line of poetry to that paper. As we age, we continue to write and re-write our poems until the day we die. We are literally poetry in motion. So I ask you to think about this, when it’s all done and you close your eyes while taking your last breath, what will your poem say?

– Jah Soul

Where you at?

Excuse me, Kings and Kweens, but there’s something that I need to speak on that has been weighing heavy on my heart. I’ve been watching the events unfold in Ferguson, Missouri, as most of you probably have. If you’re out of the loop, allow Jah to catch you up.
A young black man, Michael Brown, was shot and killed after a confrontation with a police officer. This is a highly sensitive matter due to the previous deaths of Trayvon Martin, Jordan Davis, Oscar Grant and Sean Bell. They were all shot and killed by Caucasian men, some being police officers. Ferguson was the first city to respond to the killings by protesting and rioting in the streets, but I have some feelings about all of this that I would like to share with all of you.
I agree that the deaths of these young men are horrible, but the truth is that young black men kill each other in greater numbers, at a much higher rate, and also for far less reasons than these travesties I’ve just mentioned. What has me vexed about all of this is that no one riots or organizes marches in protest of these senseless murders. So, I ask all of these people that are currently standing against these crimes committed by white men, where you at?
Black men riddled a young six-year-old girl in Kansas City, Missouri with bullets when she was coming out of a store with her father. Where you at? A week later, a 10 year-old girl was killed while sitting in her living room watching television. It is believed that a person of color, driving down the street shooting up homes, caused the murder. Where you at? In Fort Worth, Texas, a grandmother and her five-year-old granddaughter was killed when a black man walked up to the granddaughters party and opened fire. Where you at? A 17-year-old high school student in Dallas, Texas was beaten and stomped to death in his front yard by a group of black men. One of perpetrators was said to be a friend of the victim. He was beat down over a petty argument. Where you at?
We seem to complain when someone of another color murders one of our own, but, we become mute and invisible when we kill one another. We must take the plank out of our own eye before taking it out of another’s eye. Meaning, we must show a concern and interest in the Black on Black violence that is decimating our communities before we complain, speak on, and protest the violence coming from outside of us. No matter how you justify it, murder is murder. We must concentrate on saving ourselves instead of killing ourselves.

Peace and Blessings,
Jah Soul