The Apocalypse

Just the kind of guy that writes about what I've seen. Breakdown of the world, as pessimistic as it is, if you disagree watch the news, and tell me the last hero you've seen. That didn't just come in times of disaster.

Proceed To the Apocalypse

It is not 2012

This is not a matter to be shelved.

On the milk cartons lays a picture of the planet Earth

Last seen in pursuit of fame, power, and riches.

Now held in lawsuit with betrayal, rage, and lust.

We used to buy our families out of slavery,

Now we buy chains and links, drugs and drinks

While blastin music like we’re on the moon

No one else can hear it.

Watchin shows like Comedy Centrals South Park cartoon.

Trash blows through our minds…  want good?

No thanks we’re immune.

I exercise mine, but some freedom of speech makes me nervous.

Where the leaders are followers and civil service disserve us,

And we deserve it.

We look around for the outstretched hand of a martyr

Yet they can only be in the form of a man, have land, nor can they wear brands like starter.

Where children look up to there teenage fathers wondering about what they’ve seen on tv.

The father states many people know of blood, few of love.

Where all things similar can go two separate ways, where rappers tell crows of thousands to put there hands in the air, someone else robbing a bank tells them to put their hands in the air, A minister gives his benediction, and told the congregation to put their hands in the air…Coincidence?

Hands up if your confused and have questions about the missing planet. No answers…

But opinions there’s plenty. Your beliefs are no louder than your car system, we have ideas but when we listen to music we nod our heads, as if to erase it like an etch-an-sketch.

On the other end while the ground shakes and quakes,

A newborn whines and wakes in malnutrition

For a Mom who wished for abortion, with opportunities of creation

We flourish in destruction, violence, and corruption.

Year 2013

World on the milk carton

Welcome to the Apocalypse

Word Gym

adults of the night

Bombarded with grenades and bullets

Projectile dooms

Children of the night

Dreams of freedom

But never leave the womb

Destruction always looms.

People of the light

Only some will star the night:

And here I stand

Birthed from poverty

Life’s my affinity

Death’s my humility.

How must my spine align to sprout wings

When the world laments words and sings

But my mind has corridors of metaphors

I don’t know what I’m living for

But my purpose is to make my soul rhyme

With my mind

Over matter

That’s a matter of fact

And fact ruins fiction

But my mind is imaginative

So perhaps possible fiction.

Closed Minds

An anthem for those in transition to becoming adults and those adults who still think they are kids. Wake up and apologize to yourself for you have severely limited you own capabilities. Hats off to those who make the necessary change.

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Closed Mind

Hello my companion

I have been apart of you your entire life

I am the reason why you lack any sense of what is happening today.

You have not even realized how much I hinder you.

Because of me you lack the ability to experience

Because of me you lack any wisdom of the issues 90% of people face.

You see sunny skies, green grass, and virtue

When what truly exists are storms, fallen leaves, and vice.

I show to you only what you want to see

Not only that but I shadow you in a veil of stupidity

Hello my escort

I have blocked your mind from its true potential

I have limited you so much so that you won’t feel pain

So you think I’m doing you a favor.

Little do you know that I am not supposed to be used in this way

You made me ignorant and slow; you’ve lived a life of concealment

And because of this you lack what I would call: understanding

People look at you as though you’ve been under a rock

You don’t know we have a black president,  or what the date 9/11 means to Americans,

You ask if the gas prices are high, does everyone have a roof over their head,

Do people all over the world have full bellies, and what is disease.

What are groups of teens and adults fighting for, why do they wear certain colors.

I once heard of a school known as Columbine, Didn’t students shoot up their own school?

Goodbye my former master

I am leaving you

For it is time you see the world as it truly is

You know longer live in the comfort of your own home

Your life is no longer just yours

You are about to have your own family

For if you see the world in its true form you will live and thrive

Everything will no longer be illusion but now reality

You won’t only know possibility but actuality.

People will finally see you as the intellectual you should be

For you to have power over your mind to tell it what you want to see

You must have the intellect greater than most.

Goodbye my old friend, You have grown and come of age, and my time has come

Sincerely Yours,

Closed Mind

P.S. What lies beyond concealment and lies…..Life….Take it, It’s Yours

Alone He Walks

Alone He Walks

He made his decision

So alone he will stay

Though people asked what’s wrong

Still he walked astray

His eyes glazed cast only to above

Above, to the sky.

He didn’t need help

Nor did he need worldly things

He only wanted freedom

From these puppet strings

To transform to an eagle, so that he might fly away

He pities every tree

For rooted they would stay.

If only he were fire

So that he might dance ablaze

Felt jealous of the wind

Above him all his days

Most say he dreamed too much

All say he dreamed too long

But He awoke on winter’s eve

To find out they moved on

As the strings jerked

From his home he fell

So he spread his arms as if they were wings

Embraced falling as his spell

The clouds said they saw it

The earth made not a sound

But the only one to see it

Was not present on the ground

Here’s the way they thought it

He wasn’t who he was

Brought in the break of dawn

And let go of what he does

A sad tale that no ones ever told

Gone he is now forever no one holds

He fades away like chalk

If there’s a path for him

Alone he barely walks

Protect

I have a bit of a super hero complex so this is how I feel about that...

Protect

You the one I love from a distance

I told you to run

I pray you’ve made it far

So you cannot see this.

I see bodies

I see blood

I see rubble

You the one who doesn’t know

That I do this for you

I pray music fills your ears

So you cannot hear this.

I hear metal clashing

I hear explosions

I hear screaming

You the one who feels alone

Since you know not of family

I pray the angels embrace you

So that you can feel.

I feel drained

I feel forgotten

I feel resolve

You the one who doesn’t listen

You the one who can see

You the one who says you’ll stay

You who opens your arms

I cannot be with.

Unless I grip this sword

You I cannot protect

Since I grip this sword

You I cannot hug

So I grip this sword

Now I must protect

Someday I’ll drop this sword

Too pick up another.

There is always someone to protect.

My Prayer

My Prayer

In my Father and in Heavens name

I will sail through whatever storm

I will run with the wings of eagles on my feet

I will think of only what’s true and just

I will protect what is beautiful in God’s eyes

Lord bless

Those who lack confidence in my life

The people who lack family and friends

Anyone who spits on or slanders my name

Those who search for something meaningful

God Give me the courage

To strive for your perfect image of me

Love those who have hurt me

Be honest no matter the cost

Never stop running

This is my prayer to you oh Lord, let it be answered,

For through you I am blessed and never cursed.

I see light and jump over darkness.

I am granted strength and speed to spread your news lord.

I am your servant, use me for your kingdom.

Amen

Future Girl

My future girl

Your eyes see further than any other

Your drive knows no miles per hour

Where there is no such thing as reverse.

See you know fruition cuz you pay your tuition

We pray together when we’re hard in cognition.

See that red cup is fun, but waking up late is not your mission.

That’s just because you’ve told me your ambitions.

You see I’ve dated, I’ve hated, and the last one looked good in high heels

But still found a way to walk away from me. What was she when I may have found my other me. I can admire some physical features but I’ve fallen in love with what you aspire to be. So when the day is cloudy and it’s only rainy, Can I trust you to fill me up with vitamin D.

Now baby girl what are your dreams,

I know the things you’ve seen are rated far above teen,

But believe me when I mean we share a similar screen.

So what I see you see, and together we’ve seen.

Sometimes you look down girl, but I like to give you a boost you know like I’ll be your trampoline. That’s not it though if I can break routine to see that smile why thats better, better than caffeine.

My future girl it seems I like who you are now, but I’ve fallen in love with the person that you could be. Thank you for sharing this feeling with me. 

You should have your own holiday, I mean you are the angel on my Christmas tree.

You are that 1^st prize at the jubilee that I would spend my life savings just to get without guarantee. And your secrets you’ve told me I swear to secrecy.

As for flaws, those mean nothing to me, when your queen bee.

Girl of my future you some where out there, getting your life together, putting boys in there places, and waiting for the man to sweep you off your feet. Till that day we meet eye to eye, let these words please your ear.    

Shakespeare: Machiavellian Reflections in Richard II

                 Shakespeare has created a style of play that has a collective focus of recent national incidents. He seems to create an atmosphere within the play that gives the audience a moral education that granted an understanding of the nation’s politics. Shakespeare was clearly quite the playwright in means of entertainment, but he was also concerned with the kings of his histories and the exploits during their Kingship. The play Richard II is one of such plays that compel the audience to question the authority of legitimacy to rule against the ability to rule. What seems to be heavily connected to Machiavelli’s The Prince in the bout for power within the play Richard II between the insatiable Richard and competent Bolingbroke? One may argue that Shakespeare has incorporated a Machiavellian theme that displays the framework of the appropriate characteristics of Kings and or Princes.

                  Throughout Shakespeare’s Richard II we are introduced to seemingly two polar opposite characters by means of motivation, prowess, and birthright. We learn that in throughout Shakespeare’s history the kings were for the most part inherited the throne regardless of ability. By birthright they could claim divine right. The idea that the King was God’s deputy on Earth meant that he was irrefutable. Which in turn can prove detrimental to the populace of that nation as to go against the King would mean a blatant act against the heavenly father. Nevertheless, by the fifth act in Richard II the English populace opinions on this matter is beginning to shift. They are experiencing now the woes of a King who just inherits the throne without true merit in his character, ambition, or exploits. Shakespeare is clearly pointing out that the power to rule can no longer be based on the blood of the King, but now must transition to one who exhibits a certain competence to manage a nation. It’s in this play we see a nation welcome the invading and exiled Bolingbroke into England due to the citizens’ conversion from a absolute monarchy to what may arguably be the first demonstration of a democratic monarchy as they have chosen Bolingbroke to reign over Richard II. Let us not neglect the framework Machiavelli has placed before us in The Prince. He lays out blueprints for princes and kings to follow based on rulers and conquerors of the past stating that if you are new to the throne history can be your guide in a manner of what to do and what you should inevitably avoid. Perhaps the most valid principle of the battle of legitimacy and ability is how one acquires the power of kingship. Machiavelli in chapter six of The Prince contends that one who acquires princedom through his own arms and virtue will rein a successful life. He also states that “A prudent man should always follow the footsteps of notable princes who became princes by their own force…” and this included princes such as Moses of the Hebrews, Cyrus of Persia, and Romulus of Rome.  Machiavelli goes on to say that princes who do not inherit power may have trouble acquiring it, but once they do it is seldom taken away. This type of kingship would be easier to maintain as well since those ruled would in time come to respect the arduous task and work ethic one was put through. In this case Bolingbroke. One the other hand Machiavelli believed that inherited power by means of fortune or outside assistance is easy to conquer but proves quite difficult when attempting to maintain the status quo of the domain. The bout between a ruler whom is loved and one who is hated weighs very equally on the pros and cons scale; nevertheless Niccolo Machiavelli dives into the fray asserting that it is really not necessary for one in power to be in goodwill or hated by the people. One ideally should desire to be feared. Even still in The Prince one is warned to not do things that will compel the citizens to hate. Such an action warned specifically would be the thieving of property. Even certain installations deemed necessary by the ruler such as raising an army or fortress can inspire ill will towards the ruler.  However, the use of a military force to protect one’s own country was a central belief in holding power for Machiavelli. He also inclined to devalue fortifications saying that, “The best fortress is to be found in the love of the people.” One thing that one of the characters does exemplary job of is appearing virtuous. Conversely doing so just for popularities sake can prove to be fatal to one’s kingship. Overall The Prince concerns the reader to utilize virtues and vices as a means to an end; that the result matters only in light of the effect on the kingdom.

                  When discussing Richard II it’s difficult to label him necessarily good or bad. According to Machiavelli’s warnings, he ultimately was just a poor ruler who lacked any real ability to rule a nation. Just by means of inheritance he was blessed with the power to rule over his dominion. Within the play and in The Prince it’s sufficient to say that the ability to influence the citizens’ opinion is key to political success. However, this is a facet to kingship Richard cannot grasp. Another piece of advice that Richard neglects is when he imposes taxes to raise revenue. What’s worse is that he does not use the funds to benefit the people of which they came from. He funds the war in Ireland, which quite frankly could be his greatest undoing. As claimed earlier confiscating the property of ones subjects is a quick way to compel the citizens to hate. The qualities of Richard’s personality also go against that of Machiavellian advice. The king followed by flatterers, is more concerned with fashion than that of public opinion or the stability of the realm. Which can be affirmed by Gaunt’s description in act two, scene one, lines 93-107. Through greed and complacency Richard has left himself vulnerable to plotting and attack. In addition to that is Richard’s feeble mindedness. When he heard that Bolingbroke returned from exile to take the throne, he sat down and claimed he want to tell sad stories of the old kings. Why would anyone follow this weak excuse of a man anywhere? Nevertheless, one of Richard’s actions must be held in contempt above all else, and this is confiscating of Bolingbroke’s property, which Machiavelli has deemed as the quickest way to become the villain of your subjects. Even The nobility warned him that to steal these lands would have consequences. York in act two scene one lines 200-206 is heard warning Richard, but of course is not heeded in any sense of the word.  Richard seems to lack any true concerns over his kingship, as he believes that his status as anointed king is the only facet he needs to govern successfully. Thus being said He makes no effort to display the qualities discussed in The Prince. Overall Richard has shown he need not do a thing for the good of his nation except sit on his divinely appointed throne. In a paraphrasing of the gardener in act three, scene four, lines 53-63 the moral of the play seems to be just as a garden must be tended in order for it to grow and prosper so too must a country be tended if it is to function to the greatest of its ability. Richard’s selfishness and lack of Machiavellianism has cost him his kingship, and ultimately costs him his life.

                  In the contrary to the negligent Richard you have Bolingbroke who is a man that is not to be taken lightly. Here we have a man who is strong willed enough to come back from exile and what’s more absurd, claim the throne. Bolingbroke is one who demonstrates every single one of the Machiavellian traits to the dismay of Richard’s effort to conform to a successful king.  In a direct act against the king he accuses Mowbray of treason and challenges him to combat within the first scene of the play. This is rather bold on Bolingbroke’s part as a challenge against Mowbray is a passive attack against the king since Richard is the one who ordered the murder on Gloucester. During exile we learn that Bolingbroke is inventive and charismatic. When Richard is away in Ireland, He sees this opportunity as the perfect time to come back to England and reclaim his birthright of which was stolen from him. The charismatic gentleman has no problem swaying public opinion. As he unyieldingly gets people to join his side. Even Richard takes note of the peoples’ love of him in act one, scene four:  “How he did seem to dive into their hearts, with humble and familiar courtesy…” This passage also illustrates that Richard has not been able to interact effectively with the English people; he has done nothing to gain their support.  When Bolingbroke states, “ For what I speak, My body shall make good upon this earth.” In act one, line one indicating that he is a man of action.  This aggressive style puts him in opposition to Richard, in more ways than one. For when Bolingbroke takes the crown is gestures a new way of thought in regards to power. For if one is capable it seems inevitable that he should rise to some sort of position of power. As in this case came to fruition. Another Machiavellian trait exercised by Bolingbroke is that of being ruthless. Having Richard murdered, as well as some of his allies.  The Prince even goes so far as to recommend that the ruler of a nation seem pious, and at the end of the play Bolingbroke seems to understand this gesture as he plans to make a journey to the Holy Land. Perhaps the most impressive feat of the soon to be King Henry IV is the fact that in exile he raised a sizeable enemy. To top that off his invasion was so perfectly timed while Richard was away the people of England welcomed into the country with open arms as if to acknowledge him as their no king. A commanding performance by Bolingbroke is demonstrated throughout the entire play. This only goes to show that his ability to rule trumps Richard’s legitimacy to reign. In his desire to right the wrongs of the King Richard II he becomes an unlikely hero to the country that he was exiled from in the first place.

                  Shakespeare adopts multiple styles throughout a plethora of his plays. Especially when it comes to his histories, he has become a mastermind at providing the audience with more than just mere entertainment. Through language and drama he seemingly educates the populace on morals, politics, and one may argue popular literary figures ideals as well. Machiavelli’s The Prince has laid out a framework to which one can note a successful example with the principles throughout the novel in Bolingbroke and what negligence to ones duty can inevitably bring doom to as it did for Richard. In a time of great transition Shakespeare has intricately weaved the notions of a political maverick into his play in a way that places the audience in a world of power shifts, kings, and political upheaval. The Prince has been a timeless piece of literature, and when utilized correctly its guidance can bring not only help one such as Bolingbroke acquire power, but aid in the maintenance of providing a stable kingdom full of a populace that respects one’s rule over them.

Bloom, Harold. Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human. NY: Riverhead Books, 1998.

Machiavelli, Niccolo. The Prince. Second . Chicago: University of Chicago Printing Press, 1998. 74. Print.

Princess and the Frog: A Multicultural Disaster?

How far have we really come?Walking into see Disney’s latest feature I was excited to grasp a glimpse of my childhood. I remember the feeling of excitement, when I would walk into a movie theater with other children and the anticipation to hear amazing music! I was intrigued to see whether I would still lose myself in the beauty and musical charm of the classic Disney movies I grew up with. My favorite movie is the Lion King! I asked myself would there be sweeping epic landscapes of historical New Orleans? Would the Bayou be painted in the essence of a Disney romance; reminiscent of the Little Mermaid’s, “Kiss the girl scene?” Would Postcolonial main land “America” Disney finally have their very own Aladdin and Jasmine? Pocahontas faced colonization in her film, so it does not count. My questions were answered within the first 30 minutes of the film. The movie over all was quite charming with the attempted undercurrent of New Orleans Jazz and “culture.” Nevertheless we do not get the epic adventure that we expect from most of our protagonists that we’ve been trained by Disney to believe in. Mulan saved Japan, Pocahontas stopped a war, Snow White saved dwarfs, Simba restored the Pride Lands…and Tiana got to turn into a frog for the entire movie and eventually open a restaurant?

            Most characters have a distinct goal that saves their “kingdom.” Tiana had a dream and a mean old man that wanted to crash on her parade and was feeding everyone really what her “Kingdom” needed? All of the “Classic” are rooted in some folk tale, or historical incident. All princesses are of noble lineage or perform noble acts that are accentuated by unsatisfactory situations. All, except Princess Tiana, Cinderella, Snow White, Pocahontas, Ariel and Princess Aurora were Born of Nobel lineage, Mulan is historically based on a Chinese Folk legend that include ambiguous lines of superior lineage…but Tiana did not get her back-story explained like past Princesses. And Why does Tiana’s Prince have to lose all of his money?  It’s known that we are in a time where equality is respectable and desired, but do they, Tiana and the Prince, have to be “equally poor?”  Young girls can dream of a Prince with “nice” things and being swept off their feet. Why stop that dream now? The problem that seems to be evident is that Disney neglects the values of African American history, and the closest story we have to mimicking the formula for the ideal princess and prince story is Lion King. Is it indeed too much to ask for a traditional Disney storyline comprising black characters?

L'ecriture Feminine

Discovering the écriture féminine has largely been about centering women’s bodies and women’s experiences in writing.  But there are problems with this particular aspect of feminist theory, namely, it’s tendency to essentialize about the relationship between gender and style.  According to Cixous the female body and female sexuality have been negated and repressed by centuries of male power. For her, a recuperation of the female body is, in fact, the main source of ecriture feminine. She argues that the relationship between femininewriting and the female body lies in the heterogeneity and multiplicity of female sexuality. A woman's body is endowed with a greater number of erogenous zones than man's: lips, breasts, vagina, clitoris; her entire body is a sexual organ, whereas male sexuality tends to be much more monolithic, focused primarily upon the penis. For example, Irigaray’s asserts that women’s experience cannot be depicted using the linear, logical mode that dominates male writing.   It comes awfully close, in my opinion, to rooting women’s distinctiveness in stereotype:  Men are logical, linear, and mundane.  Women are non-linear, emotional, jouissant, poetic.  To reify those categories is to at least partially deny the social conditioning that codes rationality, order, and science as masculine and feelings and all that shit as feminine. As female sexuality is plural in its capacity for multiple and heterogeneous pleasures, so feminine writing transcends univocality, linearity, and the fixity which comprise "phallic" discourse.

 Women frame their requests in a less assertive way because that is how we are taught to enter the world:  don’t be too aggressive, don’t be arrogant, don’t bother people, don’t make people upset, don’t step on anyone’s toes, don’t don’t don’t.  But even though women tend to undersell themselves, that doesn’t mean that they are incapable of using commanding rhetoric when the occasion calls for it or that they will automatically compromise their ideals in order to avoid conflict or confrontation.

 In "The Language of the Brag", a poem that might serve as an early manifesto, she writes of the physical act of giving birth as some kind of Whitmanesque celebration of the self and the written word. It's an early indication, perhaps, of the fascinating, and complicated, relationship in Olds's work between life and art. Olds exhibits her pride in her body in the next stanza as she states, “I have wanted some epic use for my excellent body, some heroism, some American achievement… I have stood by the sandlot and watched the boys play.” She wants to do something that even men would be astonished by. She examines the achievement of giving birth as if to say “ ha! Men try this because I bet you can’t!” Olds mentions Walt Whitman in last stanza, stating, “I have done what you wanted to do, Walt Whitman, I have done this thing, I and the other women this exceptional act with the exceptional heroic body,” because men poets had the vision of speaking of themselves in terms of 
She shows empowerment through the woman’s body by speaking on the miracle of giving life.

Warrior

Just something i wrote when my bother was deployed, with a bit more ancient vibe.

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The sword is my body

And I am the body of my sword

Sword of  my bone

Steel covers my body and fire is my blood.

I have wielded over a thousand blades

For I am not known to death

Nor known to life.

I have withstood agony to protect many

Yet alone I stand, for in my life I must remain solitary.

I have never sat in the recliner known as happiness

Nor do I meet many who do.

I am here standing in this eternal fight

Yet this eternity happens in an instance.

I desire to protect

Yet that desire cannot be met unless it is violated

I say to those willing to oblige

With an answer of the sound my sword makes as it is unsheathed