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Yo Little Brother

by Brother Dash

Yo, Yo, little brother

What you out here tryin’ to discover?

Yo, Yo, little brother…

You little bro. Hold up Slow your roll

I’m no prophet or scholar but I’ve heard and I’ve told

Now grab onto this moment it’s a rare precious jewel

Created by pain, love, truth, wisemen and fools

I’ve gotten postcards from hell, telegrams from Jibril

Lived a comedy of errors, dreamed tragedy surreal

And I see where you’re headed and I’ve been down that road

Where the essence of self is bought, traded and sold

It may look shiny and smooth but around that there bend

Is a broken heart, a poisoned soul, and a buck-toothed Jinn

And that road ain’t no joke it twists Serpentine

And as you walk through the weeds it’s your heart that’s entwined

Yo, Yo little brother

What you out here tryin’ to discover?

Yo, Yo little brother…

Little brother I love you, you’re like the blood in my veins

But your cuttin’ and slicin’s causin’ Me and you pain

I got interest in your soul I want these words to be gold

And when I’m gone please say you heard every word that I told

Live in this world like a stranger, Sleep on the couch

Walk towards the light, So that your limbs will vouch

That at 2 in the mornin’ you wasn’t sleepin’ or creepin’

You was standin’ in qiyam prayin’ tahajud with your fam

Or maybe even listenin’ to poetry by Brother Dasham!

Yo, Yo little brother

What you out here tryin’ to discover?

Yo, Yo little brother…

Look I ain’t preachin’ or teachin’ I’m reachin’ I’m sharin’

My chest to your chest so you can FEEL that I’m carin’

If believers are mirrors of each other’s state

Then take my biography build and create

I want for your soul what I want for myself

A place of sakeenah, some spiritual health

And it ain’t in a bottle, a spliff or a song

And it aint in this world where right becomes wrong

And it ain’t even simple like “read this hadith”

“It slices and dices, gives you shiny white teeth!”

And just like some poems your path may not rhyme

And the length is uncertain but it lasts a lifetime

And when you remember I hope there’s one thing you kept

That commitment is small it starts with one little step

Yo, Yo little brother

What you out here tryin’ to discover?

Yo, Yo little brother

Let’s go home and pray with one another!

Just A Test

by Brother Dash

The razzle dazzle of big city night life, Miller High Life, got you blind to the realities
of the true to life street life. Champagne wishes and Caviar dreams are the beams
connected to the foundations of various nations, Haitians be the carriers of Green Monkey viruses?, clouds in Mankind’s Irises, but that’s to be expected in the land of resurrected Osirises, Boulevard gods  Peachfuzz squads, make you be on your guard even the righteous be at odds. Advocates for Satanic Whispers, sisters that love to bicker, will get you there quicker while the bugger flickers standin’ in the alleyways hidden from the moonlight street lamps, their mental clamps on contenders and champs, and those that get Amped, scan the UPC forehead stamps, persistent so they walk the dry streets…DAMP!!

Throw your Booyaka’s in the sky, watch the skate boards fly, Bastard Daddies say
Bye-Bye and the world keeps on spinnin’ as all this sinnin’ got him grinnin’ as he brags about everybody that he done been in, Blend In the sounds of thoracic thrusts, unripe fruits that bust, with screaming tears, dreaming their, gleaming fears appear like shattered sunshine raining from dark skies fall and slice like twice on blood soaked faces but the pain of children’s rain barely stains Insane Brains in chains while necks crane to see pubic manes and little remains for those not in the fast lane, they’re on the other side of the window pane, lickin’ dead bugs and dirt granules from the ledge, Are they the ones who are living on the edge? There must be a wedge or a veil on the hearts, On the Hearts torn aparts, When they speak they just fart call it aroma, call it a stench, This woman Free!!!, I see a wench, Girly mags, Hags with bags, no more playin’ Freeze Tag, Rudy orders the gag, why do weather men brag? Why does he leave when they sag?
Why is Philistine such a nag? Do you really donate your clothing or do you simply throw away your rags?

When the Sun rises from the West, When the mother suckles her daughter’s breast,
when children become pests, when the Earth coughs up phlegm from her chest, When nuclear families have empty nests, When housewives are seen as something less, When 12 year olds get buddha blessed, When Stars and Stripes become personal crests, When so-called scientist puff up him chest, When the tongue whips your brother’s back without a rest, When neighbors go hungry and enemies become guests, When leaders of believers sell souls for Kaffir quests, When this poem won’t end even at your behest, When Color and Birth determines who’s best, When lies become meals that we chew and injest, Then with crystal clarity you’ll see the reality that this whole world was just…a test.

Muslimah
by Brother Dash from the album Poetically Speaking

The cloak enveloped the breeze on a day made sunny by her complexion

A radiant kind of energy or perhaps synergy of mood and disposition

She possessed me
Enveloped me
Cradled me like an orphan babe
And then she caught my glance

Now I don’t know why I was afraid to say that it was her essence that gave her such a presence
That sparked such a desire
Not of flesh But of spirit

That longing for love
She reminded me of He
That blew life into She
That gave birth to the We
That soothes our troubled cries and I tried to avoid the eyes

But those eyes pierced the walls of my soul
She grabbed and immobilized me
Gently choked my jugular and peered deeply

“Oh my is that the universe I see in the iris of her soul?”

You see it was her essence that gave her such a presence

That reminded me of love
It was the flow of her gait
It was the way that she walked
It was the way that she talked
Even though her lips never parted

She was purifying water

And I so wanted to pray
Prostrate to her God
That created
That stated
Paradise was at her feet

I was captive to her beauty
And I don’t mean she was pretty
Convinced of my own conviction
She challenged my very existence
And my ego ran for cover

Was it the Sun that warmed the wind that kissed my cheeks?
Or was it the breadth of her aura
A majestic, feminine kind of Je ne sais quoi

My soul quaked
My heart ached
Language is an inadequate conveyor
She never said a word
Her existence spoke volumes
And in this moment demanded a reply
I was bursting to ask the question
Struggling, bumbling, fumbling for the appropriate time
Hyperventalaic starts and stops to the question
Fear and anticipation gripping my emotion and my right index finger
And in the midst of this comical spasm
This flotsam, jetsam to and fro
She must have heard the words beg from my soul

And with the softness of a whisper and an almost sweet serenade

She said to me simply…Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

“I’m just a Muslimah”

©2003 Brother Dash

Muslimah by Brother Dash is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at www.brotherdash.com.

Boom Chicka Boom was my first really really popular performance piece. For a long time it was my most requested poem and I still get requests for it today. It’s based on the trials and tribulations we all go through with loved ones where we seem to argue over the same things time and time again. So much so that it starts to sound like a broken record (for those of you that remember vinyl records). So it’s like the argument has its own beat. Boom Chicka Boom Chicka Boom Chicka Boom. Video of this piece is here

Boom Chicka Boom

Boom Chicka Boom Chicka Boom Boom Boom

Boom Chicka Boom Chicka Boom Boom Boom

Boom Chicka Boom Chicka Boom Boom Boom

Boom Chicka Boom Chicka Boom Boom Boom

I fight, you fight
We fight, we fight
I yell, you yell
We yell, we yell
Struggle Struggle Love and Hate
Argue Argue Just Debate
‘You said this’ ‘well you said that’
Tit for Tit For Tit For Tat

Boom Chicka Boom Chicka Boom Boom Boom

Boom Chicka Boom Chicka Boom Boom Boom

Boom Chicka Boom Chicka Boom Boom Boom

Boom Chicka Boom Chicka Boom Boom Boom

Ain’t you tired of this game?
Fight, make up but life’s the same
It’s my fault I’m so ashamed
Blame, Blame, Blame Blame
Same old music, same old song
You’re always right, I’m always wrong
You wake up depressed and sad
I slept good that makes you mad
So much anger, so much strife
Is this what we want in life
Is this what we came here for?
Is this what we made them for?
Round and round this carousel
Tryin’ to stop why can’t you tell?

Boom Chicka Boom Chicka Boom Boom Boom

Boom Chicka Boom Chicka Boom Boom Boom

Boom Chicka Boom Chicka Boom Boom Boom

Boom Chicka Boom Chicka Boom Boom Boom

Thunder, thunder lightning rain
I want to love but it’s a strain
I want to cry and touch your tears
I want to hurt and feel your fear
But when we talk we never speak
Is it peace we really seek?
I just want this pain to end
Must I break just so you’ll bend?
Must I cut just so you’ll bleed?
Must I want what you need?
Don’t you see?
Don’t you hear?
Don’t you feel?
Don’t you care?
Drama, drama, gloom and doom
Press replay…boom chick boom

Boom Chicka Boom Chicka Boom Boom Boom

Boom Chicka Boom Chicka Boom Boom Boom

Boom Chicka Boom Chicka Boom Boom Boom

Boom Chicka Boom Chicka Boom Boom Boom

I love you but life is tough
I love you is not enough
Phone, gas, lights, rent
Your car ac-ci-dent
I got dreams
I got goals
My own life you want control
Sometimes it’s us sometimes it’s we
Sometimes it needs to be me
That don’t mean you have no say
Ultimatum leave or stay
I just want this song to change
What we have to rearrange
Different beat
Different tune
No more boom chick
Boom Chicka Boom Chicka Boom Chicka Boom Chicka Boom
Chicka Boom Chicka Boom Chicka Boom Chicka Boom Chicka Boom
Boom Chicka Boom Chicka Boom Chicka Boom Chicka Boom Chicka

Boom Chick Boom!!!!

©2002  Brother Dash

Boom Chicka Boom by Brother Dash is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at www.brotherdash.com.

Can I Marry Your Daughter?

Pledge words of devotion that spring from an emotion best described as a love that has nothing to do with her

Can I Marry Your Daughter?

I walked down a path that looked so clear

The clouds they smiled, the trees they cheered

The air a hint of spice and cream

But as I walked did my eyes dream?

This place of bliss?

Men’s cheeks I kissed

My tongue did speak

Prophetic verse

“A Salaam A Salaam”

The strange Men said

But I’m confused Light, Dark, Pure Bred?

Can I Marry Your Daughter?

Bring this passion for THE ONE, to this one, that is your one

You’ll gain a son!

Why do you run?

No not from me

But to that place

Where white sheets breathe

Where demons play

Where chains and whips evoke cruel days

Can I Marry Your Daughter?

My path became rope wrenched tight by a grip

Of forced realization don’t make me slip

From the edge of a truth that was always my hope

Let my heart be your judge

Let my soul be your sway

Let the words of that book be my advocate today

I pray, I give, 30 days food I touched not

If this world be a castle then I’ll sleep on a cot

My love for the one is the measure of my worth

Not this matter of where he chose be my birth

Can I Marry Your Daughter?

Break bread with collard greens, roti and naan

Comfortable in my identity not some Desi dapper don

I’ll clean and I’ll cook and the rent will be paid

I’ll teach her about a people that gave birth to Malcolm AND Imam Zaid

Can I Marry Your Daughter?

My hair ain’t straight it’s happy to be nappy

And it’s cool to be Dad, Abu or Como Estas Papi

My skin will not pass your paper bag test

But a drum that beats steady resides in my chest

Infused with the blood of  Martyrs and Saints

From Hamza to Harriett swords that used paint

To create God’s landscape of shades and tints

Why does forty nine dot one three make your narrow eyes squint?

Can I Marry Your Daughter?

Lead salat in jamaat pray 2 extra rakats

Can I Marry Your Daughter?

Kiss tears of frustration from gender subjugation

Can I Marry Your Daughter?

Have our arms grow weary and our eyes get teary

Can I Marry Your Daughter?

‘cause we be lovers of God not the tone of Man’s flesh

Can I Marry Your Daughter?

If the Prophet was Bilal would you reject your deen?

Deny your Rabb and still say your so fresh and so clean?

Can I Marry Your Daughter?

The color of skin? Or the heart that’s within?

Speak without spin and I’ll ask you again

Can I Marry Your Daughter?

© 2006 Brother Dash

Boom Chicka Boom by Brother Dash is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at www.brotherdash.com.

Headline Islam (Full Version)

The air above the horizon tremors
As the warmth of our hearts rise above the raging waters of turmoil
And chaos humanity breeds
We be the lighthouses with spiritual beacons standing stoic never changed by the spray of salty voices that clap against our bedrock foundation.
We sing sweet soft somethings so succulent some suckle several sips
We cradle the young we sit silent before the veteran and
We open the curtains for sun rays to destroy the darkness and we pull
wool blankets over the bodily flaws of our companions shielding them from sight.

We be the torchbearers following straight paths of guided light
Struggling as we lead the masses through 34 prostrations as the day passes
Grass is growing ‘cause even the scorched Earth be knowing that we be rain water
Healing Bani Adam’s slaughter
Bringing order not verbal mortars

Teaching our daughters not to be porters
To men who grin getting drunk of Jinn
Spelled J-I-N-N
10 to the 10 10 be the power of this verse by verse
First nurse those who feel cursed
Squeeze those who feel worse
And touch and soothe and kiss the hearts in tribulation
‘cause we all got the same destination
And too many of us are getting left at every Hip Hop and R&B station
Mira Nosotros somos hermanos you see these manos?
They fight for you,
Stay tight for you,
In several hues
Red, Black, Brown and yeah White too
So don’t twist your wrist this kiss be Jennah bliss
Get my drift?
We uplift our palms 45 degrees Be pleased
‘Cause we drownin’ in the herbal teas of mu’min energies
That gentle breeze putting you at mental ease?
Contains the moisture from honey melon seas
Forming liquid beads
Whose seeds bleed the nectar formed from compassionate wisdom
Taste the sweetness on your lips
Then grip the tips
Of your modern day quills
And be scribes at will and drill
These words into heart stones where dreams moan
And bellies groan from a hunger and a thirst
For a spiritual elixir
610 was a very good year HEAR!
The cries of their fears
Make wudhu in Kaffir tears!
Why?
‘Cause your salvation ain’t in condemnations
or exhortations of eternal damnation
According to the level of your mental maturation
It be in boats filled with Haitians
Po’ White Mamas in the Appalachians
Milk carton photo shoots
Similac minds in high stiletto boots
Paper Mache gods made from disposable agendas
Burnt out converts who said RETURN TO SENDER
Grab your flag Shahadatayn be your refrain
But don’t refrain
There’s too much pain
Let’s wash these stains
With celestial rain
With celestial rain
Our passion is compassion
So release and share
Smiles are hugs
Words are kisses
So what’s a touch but a prelude to hearts that join in spiritual remembrance
That serenade a love supreme
That cry serendipitous tears not saline but clear
Zam Zam for the human mind
So in times of defining moments take this moment to define yourself
Tell your own stories
Sing your own psalms
Re-Write the headline…
Saying NO…THIS be Islam

Audio Version of the poem is here which is a slightly shortened version i.e. a “radio edit” due to length.

[podcast]http://brotherdash.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/Headline-Islam.mp3[/podcast]

©2002 Brother Dash

Boom Chicka Boom by Brother Dash is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at www.brotherdash.com.

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