Writings & Readings

May 31, 2020

if you say "A swift arrest" in the case of #GeorgeFloyd was made, I'm already looking at you like a vampire and a fool ...

when I was a teen with my first car, and I'd go pick-up and ride around with my folks, nobody was ever surprised when I would ask if everybody was clean ... without judgement, about what they did before we met that day, I wanted to be sure I knew what I risked if we got pulled over...

the cops would not care if I claimed not to know about illegal substance in my car ... WE WOULD ALL GOT TO JAIL ... THAT DAY ... not after consideration ... if they find something, we all going downtown to await bail or trial & sentencing

so to me you sound willfully stupid, trying to act like some one should be content with the arrest of ONE cop days after FOUR COPS participated in killing GEORGE FLOYD and lied about what really happened

my parents stressed to my sisters and I, "always keep your noise clean,... you don't have to look for trouble,.... don't be with the wrong crowd... if you not around the trouble they can't say you had something to do with it"

well look ... I know old school Black parents were strict, praying we'd make it home ... and I know white parents seldom tell their children "no"

that was lil Amy's problem, she ran into a situation where she KNEW she was wrong but could not bare to be told by a Black man ... (she should be charged by the way, even if she's only fined for inciting panic with a false report)

and those 3 other cops ... they should be charged ... they are MORE complicit than I would have ever been for being 'around trouble' ... it DISGUSTS me to know of how many Black men have done real prison time for just being around trouble .... and we are supposed to have some sense of trust in the system for arresting ONE cop when FOUR were involved .....

this is the perfect place to end with the hashtag #GTFOH





Here's a new piece I enjoyed reading, shared with me by the writer, Rebekah Berry

It immediately brought to mind the great song by Gregory Porter, appearing below the poem.

Pen and Paper

Green tea, toast, and marmalade
Let’s write a story
You can be the pen and
I’ll be the paper

But first thing’s first
What kind of pen you want to be
And tell me what kind of ink
Do you want to lay on me

Cause I’m just an old diary
But I know a blender
And if you size me up good
You can blend me tender

And pour me in to pages
And write the words
Of sages
On my back

Cause when you do
Love wages
War on all of the
Cages of my past
Pen and paper
Stroke and sigh
My your writing
It sho’ make me high

Pen and paper
Stroke and sigh
My your writing
It sho’s make me high

Green tea, toast, and marlmalade
Let’s write a story
I can be the pen if
You’ll be the paper

But first thing’s first
What kind of pen I want to be
And tell me what kind of ink
Do you want me to lay on thee




sitting in a basement studio a few months ago, my friend and collaborator, Sorg (link)> Sorg played several new instrumental tracks he'd been working on .. he proposed several new compositions for me to write lyrics for our project, Sorg & Napoleon Maddox (link)> Sorg & Napoleon Maddox ..
I was already really deep into the consideration of the life and times of Millie-Christine (link)> Twice the First Time ..

Sorg put a certain track on that he'd been working on for a while with a chorus from the great rebel-music singer-songwriter DANYEL WARO > Danyel Waro singing in Reunion > Reunion creole.

These are the lyrics that followed:

it’s the fleecing of the lost lambs
re teaching of the bought man
to see the laws of boss man
as God’s hand
but it’s fugazi like a plastic diamond
and you are barking loud up the wrong tree my friend
if you think war and religion ain't tied in
your soul is the battle ground
brain the watch tower
protect your fortress
understand your power
it’s your hour to break the chain
bring the low high
and the rough place plain
it’s a little girl out there waiting on you
you pledge to her or the red white & blue
which will you choose,
the blue blanc rouge
or the colorless motherless without no shoes
you cool?
you could sleep with that?
are you a fool?
you at peace with that?
make me wanna clack


lies on parchment
to legalize targets
and then pimp the land
and leave the black man limp
crack the whip
if she smacking lips
families split
to keep the master rich
but now tell us to forget
like it was just a glitch
and some of us willing
illin' in the matrix
killing for basics
behaving how they slaved us
that's why i keep my mic ready
for the razor cut
hold my pen steady
for the coup no bluff
the mind of African is poison to the system
infecting every aspect of how you living
it's only right
justice for the kidnappers
popping off in the night
like firecrackers
more action less actors
more panther less rappers
they can’t re catch us







an excerpt from,
HOW TO BUILD A JUKE JOINT by Scott Woods

..."If the roof leaks, leave it.
You need the holes and cracks to let
the SwampFolk come and go
as they please.
If Mother Nature sees fit to knock a
good-sized hole in said roof that
bypasses quaint,
every table then becomes negotiable.

Set up a lost & found in case
someone needs a hair pin or
the band needs a harp in B-flat or you
need a spare .25 bullet.
Keep your pens in cigar box
and your cigars in your pocket.

Never put in anything new.
View decoration as either a
personal vendetta or a communal effort.

Make it the pimp's living room,
the wino's heaven.
Let the tramps stamp it with their spit and
their knife-carved memories,
right into the bar.

Above all, own it. Never share it.
Brand it with your fists.
Tongue its tiles and pool stick-poked panels.
Swim in its booths and to the jukebox's
skipping 45s." ...

(from page 15 & 16 of "We Over Here Now" by Scott Woods)


APOLOGY by Brian Greer

I sent a whisper upon the wind,
I am sorry it said,
I sent it with care,
In hopes you’d be there,
To breath in ,
The evening wind,
The breathe of god laiden with,
My souls gift,
Fill my hearts rift,
Do with it what you might,
But go to you porch to night,
Breath deeply and listen,
(I am sorry)
I am there if you listen.

by Brian Greer


HATE by Rhonda Owens

Hate is too big of a weight
We never benefit when we participate
Or operate
In that state
However if you find yourself overtaken by hatefulness
Redirect your focus to God and his faithfulness.
I too
Like some of you
Have contributed
In the act of hate being distributed.
But we must learn that when we spread hate to others
We ourselves also suffer
It’s a no win situation
We must decline the invitation
To engage in its administration

Hate blinds you
And entwines you
But never does it remind you
That when you spread it, hate comes back to find you.
Getting over a suffered wrong is not instantaneous
However the toxins of resentment can prove to be dangerous
Some might even say it’s as deadly as cancer
And we’re all wise enough to know that hate is never the answer
We never benefit when we buy into Satan’s lies
And no matter the circumstances in hate we are never justified
As we know it's like taking poison and hoping the other person dies
While we’re busy being miserable there going on with their lives
So let’s not forget the 70 times 7 rule
Plus proverbs says anger rest in the bosom of fools
When we take a look at the bigger picture
Hate is like mailing a letter addressed return to sender!!!!!!

By Rhonda Owens

YOUR DESTINATION by Jane LeCroy

You couldn’t come home with me
The signs confuse me, I have trouble
processing mutiple names for roads and exits
it was hard to see, the fog covered the river that night
I blamed the weather, the GPS,
I blamed the myth of technology, my mood, the headlights
and that I can’t remember a list of directions,
I feel ashamed, I get angry at my limitations
I fall short, I think everything fails
and I wanted it all so bad, You, the way, the way I wanted
the way I wanted you
You couldn’t come home with me
because because because... a million reasons,
and there are always a million things to blame but
we do get all these days and sometimes things work out really well
and sometimes even if they don’t work out well, there is still beauty in the mess
I got to the other side without you when I wanted you with me
but there was that part we were together in the car for awhile
your face and your body with mine, and that was so good and so great
that’ll I’ll keep trying, I’ll keep waking up and going for it
no matter how sorry I feel for myself or how much I cry with wanting
there’s plenty of those days even though we think there’s not enough-
don’t think that, just use your imagination more positively
believe in the good parts, that they keep coming,
that they’re on their way
I made it, despite all my mistakes and the emptiness that fills me
I made it across the bridge and returned the car without you
You couldn’t come home with me and we’ll be together soon
by Jane LeCroy

I CALL YOU OUT (Ice Water Bucket Challenge or Whatever is Trends Next) by Napoleon Maddox

I call you out


I'll care if you care
I mean I'll pretend to care if you care
I mean ... Well let's agree to pretend to care together ...

Let the caring spill all over you
Let the collective freeze brain shock you


Let's pick matching outfits from the catalogue of social awareness
Let's coordinate our updates
Ooh wee, it feels so red carpet like
We are doing what the stars do
And it's so great that they are out there using their fame in caring ways
They are leading by example, doing their small part
Everyone should

As my father used to say:
Many hands maketh the work light
(Repeat . Try to Change meaning thru emphasis of the work #LIGHT)

Let's hashtag our compassion
We will be like the 1964 world fair
Achieving Peace Through Understanding

Understanding our compassion
Understanding how important our digital activism when we speak with one voice online

See how mighty we are when we trend?

Oh wait.. What?
That's a thing ?
Huh ?
I never heard of people living there
Aren't there only animals and a banana farm on the the parcel of earth.
Well yeh ... I know but
Yeh yeh ... Well
Those people have to work for someone don't they ?

If this is such an issue why haven't I heard of it?
Why isn't it trending?

This is just like any other random person

You know?
People everywhere have things going on....

LIKE :





(this space to be filled with important mundane crises that never #trend)




I saw the beginning of a YouTube clip about this but it didn't have very many views so I skipped it

Don't tell me to think about my thinking, I'm trending

by Napoleon Maddox

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