Sea Worthy

"And when he knew for certain 
Only drowning men could see him 
He said "All men will be sailors then 
Until the sea shall free them" - L.C



The sailors have their tales that they love tell,
of men overboard, shipwreck, and other
tragedies -

They will tell you drunkenly-
"Beware of Mermaids and Sirens.
They will lead you to death and ruin."

But Mermaids and Sirens do not exists.

Like all good ship Captains,
I know my
superstitions well,
but know my ship better.

Confident my ship
is right
is true
is Sea Worthy-

I navigate by the light of the stars.

The stars are sailors of the sky,
the souls of drowned men
guiding his brother home.

Their light,
hope among the darkness.

But that night I could not see the stars
I could only feel a cold unforgiving wind.

Omens I chose to ignore-

That night I had but one passenger aboard my ship.

I could not see her face when we spoke,
I could not see her eyes.

I had only a voice from someplace beyond.
Only a voice to guide my ship by.

She wants to know if my ship was Sea Worthy.
She wanted to test its worthiness.

She calls me chatty-
The iceberg hits
and rips through the hull.

She calls me weird-
The ships engines ignite into flames.

She questions my sexuality-
The capsize begins.

The ship is lost.

Women and Children first,
though she has long since abandoned ship.

But I do not run for the lifeboats.
A Captain must goes down with his ship.

I don't fear what comes next.

Sometimes we need to learn to swim in the coldest
unforgiving waters.

Sometimes we sink.

At times it's what is required.

How else can one
learn
forgiveness
love
compassion

They are like air,
it is only while drowning
do we fight for them,
long for them.

Sometimes it is what is required-
to drown again and again,
to die again and again

So that my soul may be a star in
the night sky
guiding not only my brothers,
but my sisters too-
until we all make it home.

Home to where there are
no ships
no ice bergs
no fires

no you
no me
no need to suffer

There are no sirens or mermaids.

Oh Shonda

"Oh! Darling, please believe me
I'll never do you no harm"- the beatles



Oh Shonda-

Lord knows I understand,

what it means to be seen.

Then,
distorted and

defined,

by a much smaller mind.

Oh Shonda-

Lord knows I understand

what it means to be heard

Then,

interpreted and 

misunderstood,

by a much smaller mind.

They called you 

angry 

black 

woman

they have seen what they wanted to see

they have heard what they wanted to hear.

they want to own your story
and
the contents of your heart,
because of the color of your skin.

I'd be angry too.

Oh Shonda-

I hear you
I see you.
I know you.

Don't worry
Baby, I still love you.

Entropy

The universe is in constant chaos.

The Dark Flow pulls the universe
apart
and
understanding why will not stop its pull.

The only constant is change.

The lives of the common people
are also in constant chaos.

There is a darkness that pulls
their lives apart as well.

fear
anger
shame

As above, so below.

The darkness pulls.

Understanding why does not stop the pull-
But do not fear change.

In that darkness is the opportunity to shine.
For they say we are made of stars.

As above, so below.

Darkness pulls,
it will always pull.

We don't have to understand why.

All we can do is hold together,
remember we are stars-
and together,
heal with the light of a billion suns.

Practice makes perfect

And the kids were doing
this crazy thing where
you dump ice water on your head for charity.

the people pointed and shook their finger
"You're doing it wrong."

And when the common folk got fed up and angry,
marched out and
took over Wall Street.

the people pointed and shook their finger
"You're doing it wrong".

And there will always be people
pointing at you for
the music and art you will create,
the words you choose, the clothes you wear
the way you cry, mourn and love.

Wanting you
 To just sit there,
stuck,
paralyzed
unable to act.

Doing nothing.

then those people will rise again
pointing and shaking that finger

saying
"Why don't do anything"
"That's what's wrong
with your generation, your kind, your people, your class"

When you hear this, there is something you can do.

One: Smile
Two: Raise a special finger of your own
and
Three: Carry on doing what you are doing.