Soul II Soul
by Brother Dash
From the street corners to the cul-de-sacs
Ivory towers and Brooklyn basements
Hearts thump and fists pump
To the rhythm and the rhyme of the soul
We speak in the tone of the tongue
The drone of the drum
It’s so so fresh
And it’s so so real, never malevolent
Content in context, culturally relevant
From Mali to Oaktown, Fajr to sundown
Hearts clap and toes tap
To the rhythm of the rap and the rhyme
Whosoever got problems takes issue?
I feel for you son here’s a tissue
The sweat on your brow
Is stingin’ your eyes
Makin’ you squint a myopic size
But the world is vast
And kids grow up fast
We all in the same boat
I just climbed up the ship’s mast
And I see the land and the ocean below
Dirt dwellers and sea serpents will pull you to an’ fro
But I’d rather build withstand the life storm
Than to sink or swim in some man’s toilet bowl
These be the words of the soul
From soul to soul
We express, we demand with metaphors in hand
No art for Arts sake
My baby is cryin’
So the words? They be flyin’
Off the page of her heart
Can you feel the connection?
Are you groovin’ to the vibe?
Like the quloob in qiyaam
That beat at the same time?
That’s how these souls roll
Up mountains made of you
Through valleys made of me
As we search for The One
And the road? It be treacherous
The enemy? He be lecherous
With his Pssssst come here, come here
But these souls must not fear
To look mirrors in the eye
To embrace the unfamiliar
Know thy brother know thyself
As we sit on five pillars
Make no mistake the soul it wavers
Sometimes the gaze is low from shame
Sometimes the heart is out of breadth
Sometimes the prayer feels like exercise
But exorcise that man made passion
It’s the goal, that’s how we roll
Medicine of ‘been there, done that’
Not afraid to treat your wounds
‘Cause I got scars you’ll never see
I gave scars that will forever haunt me
So let’s get together your mirror’s talkin’
We on a tribal quest just check the rhyme
Rhythm and poetry un’rap’ your conscience
Let souuuuuuuuuldiers invade that narrow space
Let grace descend, prepend this madness
Sadness, gladness will always coexist
In the midst of verbal confusion
Causing contusions in restless souls
That’s why we sing, that’s why I spit
I really got more phlegm than you
But you’re MY decongestant
Hopefully it’s reciprocal
We’re all the sum of parts that make the whole
And how we roll is soul to soul
Soul to Soul that’s how we roll
The sum of parts that make the whole
I share the view of ‘NO to ‘ because the real purpose of our speech is to teach and once we start a thread, we need to spread – what? Spread the truth, the peace, the beauty…! I always believed that a ”poet should do much more for the humanity than just write poems” (G.G.Byron), which I interpret as follows: a poet or a writer has got a huge responsibility – the responsibility of actually making this world a better place by his words that should have a certain effect, certain impact on those who read them, so that the people reading our poetry might become better people generally. If you write in a poem, indirectly: be good, don’t harm anyone – and if your reader understands your intended meaning, then he might adhere to your teaching. Poets are in fact kind of preachers and not only in a religious meaning. Our first priority is to, of course, spread the faith and build hope in people, but we are also expected to spread our thoughts and views if we are convinced this may be helpful to those who read what we write… This is a responsibility – for every word, every letter that we used in order to make our hearts and our souls known… Keep up the good work, Bro!;-)
I meant: ‘NO to art for arts’ – dunno why it did not get published after I clicked on ’submit’ button…;(-