UP BEFORE THE SUNRISE (2008)

Molina Soleil w/ Mannequin Rituals, CHiTT Productions

Originally released as Adrian H. Molina w/ Mannequin Rituals

“SKYDREAMER”
“REPRESENTIN’ (4 LIFE)”
“HUNGER PAINS”
“YOUNG BROWN POET”
“LA HISTORIA DEL MEXICANO”
“LETTER TO IZRIAH”
“SEA OF GLASS”
“OCTOBER MYST”
“BEYOND SUNDOWN”
“KITE RUNNER”

Click on link above to go to the desired track.

Chorus

High flyin, sky dreamer
I got jets in my feet
Light load, I can float
Ain’t no weight on my wings
I wanna soar
so high
Lift off, I’m gone,
baby I’m so fly

Verse I

In flight, jet streamin’ through the cumulous clouds
Dreams bubbly in R.E.M., whispering loud
into the wind, hopin’ the observant catch my drift
Let the rest fall up in it like they slipped off a cliff
I rhyme to uplift the spirits of the people who cry,
silently shuddering, quiet screams in the night
I know the pain, yeah I felt it on a couple occasions
Spent many grey days slayin’ demons and dragons
Awakened from my slumber in an endless winter
Warming from the frost that be makin’ us shiver
We put that poison in our livers, stayin high till we die
to escape the emptiness of the day-to-day grind
We say “It’s fine,” “It’s all good,” “Ain’t nothin’ major
Understimulated, video gamin’
Claimin to be pimps, frontin like we got paper
How much does it cost you to act like a player?
How much can be lost in a system that trained us
Ritualistic, all we know is our labor
But its time to rise up so I’m singing my songs
so I can fly with the birds when I wake in the morn

Verse II

Through midnight skies, drifting moments, I fly
to unknown zones, home was never part of life
I tried to picture happiness but I’ve been prone to deny
the possibility, but now I’ve opened my eyes
New fluid flowin’ through my bones, bright blue skies
Fresh view, peaks reflect in the brown of my eyes
Imperfect, no conceptions of perfection
Deconstruct the game and you’re left with rejection
Don’t want contrived lies mixed with unmet lines,
spoken quick with a tongue that leaves soft souls blind
Pretty eyes hide pain, thick veins show strength
A wounded heart can produce love ten times juiced up
from the easy go lucky, wouldn’t want that get up
She know my verse sincere so she won’t let up
I got that hunger in my heart, baby that ain’t no jive
Ain’t keepin track of time on these travels of mine
Got nothing on time, set in motion my flight extravagant
Aeriel rhymes in mind, strapped in for the ride

Verse III

Fly home on the red eye, no time to touch down
Gone away too long, I was strapped to the ground
That life was beatin me down, I see it clearly now
Packed up my bags, your boy had to get out
and get up, and get prepped for the flying ahead
Now set on spiraling high till the day that I’m dead
My wings are strong and I’m soaring through your neighborhood district
Stay focused on the sun and you ain’t gonna miss it
Mystic, in a trance, do a dance for the rain
And let the showers cleanse my frame as you start a new day
That blends into the night, there’s no ending in sight,
not even to the beginning not when you’re traveling light,
only ends to that which starts, got my fist to my heart
As I continue on my journey I’m embracing the dark,
and all that’s left when the last sparks burns from the flame
Transformation, I live for inspiration

2. “REPRESENTIN’ (4 LIFE)”

Written by Molina Soleil, copyright 2007
Chorus

I’m representin’ for the people who are livin their lives
We ain’t dead, No we walkin in the path of the light
We are the children of the sun, yeah we under attack
But I can feel the fire burnin, yo, we takin it back

Verse I

This is for life, spit truths, kick facts when I rap
Abstract, tear up tracks, but it’s bigger than that
This is a movement, music is a tool son, use it
Wack rappers abuse it, I watch in amusement
For artists buildin’, pickin locks, breakin’ the chains
Tunes, books, flicks, and murals, powerful thangs,
Agents of change, this is for people who stray
Away from Babylon system cuz it’s based on decay
This is for revolutionaries, freedom fighters and writers
Visualize a new reality, fuck what they supply us
This is for what you feelin’ deep in your gut
Clench your fist, raise it up if you givin’ a fuck
(This is a movement)

Verse II

This is for Rawtown sun, check it, that’s where I’m from
No frontin, ain’t no stuntin’, shorty rep where you from
I’m from a small ass city where the wind blows hard
Big city bound but I ain’t forgettin’ the town
This is for Mexicanos who come in search of labor
There’s much more to my people than the wages you pay em’
For the young vatos, hatin’ their racist education
Daydreamin’ while they wait for the bell
For the Third World livin’ in hell
While Corporations make mad money off the death that they sell
For the conscious who dream of breakin’ bread with the masses
For the young and intelligent who don’t kiss ass
For the old heads, who got their wisdom intact
Spreadin’ knowledge to the people, yo we takin’ it back
(This is for you)

Verse III

This is for white boys from the suburbs who reject they privilege
Life is more than power, status, wealth, and high-end livin’
For Latinos and Blacks who don’t fall for the bullshit
When they pit us against each other, brotha that’s bullshit
For the women who rep for somethin’ bigger than image
Demand more respect than these suckas are givin’
For people who got love deep in their hearts
For the people who respect and believe in my art,
For moms and pops and their struggles, your son made it
Fuck a troublesome past, yo we all made it
My beautiful mother overcame addiction
Clean for over a decade, now free of affliction
Pops, illegal immigrant, came with a dream
Exploited, deported, now he’s makin that cream
For families across the World who are strugglin’ together
One love, we gon’ fight til’ this shit gets better
(This for the World)

Verse IV

This is for Randy, Malcolm, Cy, Scott, Franky, and Tim,
Victor, Cesar, Buddha, Josh, Matt, Andre, and Chris
For the people with dreams who got the heart to make it happen
It took me ten years to make this rap shit happen
A long road with boulders blockin’ every path
Pain, tears, thoughts of suicide in between laughs
Big decisions: education, marriage, child, and divorce
Now I rock the fuckin’ crowd, homey I had a choice
And I chose to rise up amidst the improbability
For every fake head who doubted my ability
People sendin’ them ill thoughts, hopin’ I fail
Tryin’ to sabotage a brother, but ’m livin’ well
There’s a big difference between hate and criticism
I criticize your bullshit, you hate me for livin’
I’m representin’ for life, fighting a culture of death
Rebellin’, shit is wild, I’m strugglin’ through every breath
Til’ there’s nothing left, comin’ hard like armed peasants
Droppin jewels, big respect for the youth, I’m representin’
(for life)

3. “HUNGER PAINS”

Chorus

I’m up before the sunrise
No lie, look within these solemn eyes
And you can peep thirst driven by strength and pride
Get a taste for the hunger deep inside

That’s right (harmonizing…)
One life (harmonizing…)
One plight (harmonizing…)
One mic (harmonizing…)

When I sing I wail to the stars at night
Just one bright piece of light in the darkened sky
I got a dream but I think it’s more than mine
But it came to me within this space in time

That’s right (harmonizing…)
One life (harmonizing…)
One plight (harmonizing…)
One mic (harmonizing…)

Verse I

I’m up before the sunrise, that’s the concept
Eyes on the prize, ain’t no time for nonsense
Next shit, ya boy constructed a movement
Fresh sound, let the rhythm hit you and move it
Lose it for the music, that’s what I’m doin
Goin all out, yeah baby, that’s how I do it
Blew it as a young vato, I was hooked on the hoops
Big plans but bigger hands threw me for a loop
This is the truth (THE TRUTH), a few adults got juked
On killin the dreams of the Latino and Black youth
This was my story growing up in the town I was from
People saw my brown skin and thought I was dumb
And I succumbed to their plot, let em kill my spirit
Found peace in the drums, bass, guitars, and the lyrics
It fed my soul, that’s when I started to flow
And 10 years later I’m bringing hip-hop home

Verse II

I grew up in a broken home, south side of the tracks
I ran my neighborhood streets with some intelligent cats
We used to play ball, chill at the park and reflect
About life as outsiders, all we sought was respect
We used to check each other, throw blows, and talk shit
Working-class kids basin’ all our worth on our rep
What came next is hard really just to put into words
My high school days seemed to crawl by like a blur
While homey after homey said “fuck the system” and quit
Knowin’ a racist high school couldn’t teach them shit
I wrote Up Before the Sunrise, my first cut
About some ambitious vatos who were sellin’ them drugas
I was a young brother, writin’ raps in my class
Teleportin’ myself into the future and back
I attacked with mad concepts that bled off the page
A young Chicano pissed off with a heart full of rage
So full of pain, this was the only way that I could
Express my truest thoughts, man I fell in love with the words
I was writin for life, like the shit is my medicine
A dedicated Hip-Hop documentarian

Verse III

Yo it was all a dream, I would sit up in class
And drift into a zone, let the hourglass pass
I watched the sand sink down while still half full
Til’ it was more than half-empty, man I felt like a fool
Cause after high school, ya boy made it to college
And when I finished that up, I somehow got into law school
Know that ain’t the norm, I accomplished a lot
But at the end of the tunnel the doors were still locked
Hip-Hop, I knew that was the key
To all the artistic visions of my destiny
To be free… from always having to dream
So I flipped the script and made it reality
So I’m here, they can keep the suit and tie
I’ll keep my blue jeans and white tee, while they spit lies
I’ll give you the truth through these expressions of life
You know that Mo Brown be up before the sunrise…

4. “YOUNG BROWN POET”

The old, grey-haired, fair-skinned man watches me step out of my black car with black tinted windows with black hip-hop blaring from my speakers

Rockin’ a hoodie, baggy jeans, and white sneakers

He fears the illegal, alienated, violent, drug dealing, death serving, anti-social villain that my brown skin has come to symbolize

He doesn’t realize that I went to law school with his son, who saw me as a radical, socialist, Marxist-inspired ideological monster who sought to deprive him of the wealth daddy taught him he is entitled to, and in the process strip him of his bible and his rifle too

But fuck it right? At least he ain’t his best friend, who took one look at me and thought “Affirmative Action”

Now that shit’s taxing on my brain, like when I try to maintain, and restrain my inclination to blow up on wing-tipped and bow-tied racists, who assume the best compliment they can pay us is to patronize the few of us they educate in school and label us “exceptions” to the rule

Yet, as I revel in my endless fight and celebrate bankrupt notions of black love and brown pride, a painful tide of reality washes my pro-Browness onto shore, tolling my soul once more as I reflect on childhood homies screaming “Sellout”, all because a mutherfucker sought to bail out of a lifelong sentence of political exploitation, by embarking on what would become my miseducation

Finally, through the power of the pen, I come to a revelation. Though in sum there are many elements to me, I am ultimately none of what they see. I – myself – me – am the only entity that can define who and what I am.

At my core, I am my art, and through these lyrical journeys I reconnect with a heart and soul once lost

See I’m a rebel, with a cause, pushing forward, without a pause, who through poetry and prose makes you question what you know, re-evaluate what you heard, and struggle to find the strength you need to battle political villain throwin’ body blows like they were trying to beat Muhammad Ali in the Thrilla in Manila

I am an intellectual guerilla, with gorilla-like tendencies to stomp out political inconsistencies that are propagated by the propaganda machine we know as the U.S. media

I am who I am because I sketch my plan on paper, etched out in the data of my mind, free from the confines of the Matrix outside

Within my heart and soul I am free, and that shit’s evidenced by my prose, rhymes and flows. And I’ll be damned if anyone’s gonna act like you don’t know it. Just open your eyes and you’ll see the flame that grows and the river that flows inside of this Young Brown Poet.
5. “LA HISTORIA DEL MEXICANO”

Chorus

Es la historia, mi historia, la historia
Es la historia, mi historia, la historia

Para todos que luchan
Hasta la Victoria

Es la historia, mi historia, la historia
Es la historia,
mi historia, la historia

Verse I

It was a rough journey up from Michoacan
The ground tore at his feet, the sun baked at his arms
Across the border into a new world
The promise of a dream to share with his boy and his girl
But that American myth soon disappeared into dust
It wasn’t long before his hands were locked and cuffed
Shipped back across the border at the break of dawn
Denied of land rightfully his, we call it Aztlan
But upon his awake it’s right back on the trail
He’s gonna make it to his destination, heaven or hell
He’s been called stupid, spic, wetback? an immigrant
Beaten by the police, mistaken for ignorant
But this man is diligent, he made a life out of scraps
Empty spoon that he was given? made it a living
Every day, sweat and tears, peep the blood on his hands
Daily labor in the hot sun, this is a man
He’s got respect and honor, the love of a father,
face of dedication, heart of a martyr
Back in the day I used to think he was poor
But he gave me something to fight, breath, live and die for

Verse II

Verse two is for abuela, se llama Consuela
She recognize the old ways, still speaking in Nahuatl
Cure for every ill, herb for every cold
Vision impaired, hearing impaired, the body’s old
But the soul is older, we must recognize eventually
it’s through the strength of love that we can live through centuries
Her youth is her energy, that’s how she embrace us
She provokes thought, she brings smiling faces,
tells about the ages, story awakens the spiritual side
that provokes the insight, that guides us down the path of eternal life
All the while she keeps us calm while making us laugh
Most of us contemplate God and a vision of heaven
But the presence of such a woman in itself is a blessing

Verse III

Young warrior, Chicano, sent from the sun
With past life visions of a people of one
The beats drum, the flames flicker, no fear in his heart
He’s free from a system that shakes and breaks the average soul
The story is 500 years old, that’s when a culture was broke
Land taken, babies were killed, mothers were raped
Then came the infamous treaty of 1848
A sea of hate, there’s always something to battle
Be it a law with a white hood, the barrios, projects,
failing education system, prison industry complex
So he’s all about the struggle, ready to bleed
He’d rather die on his feet than live on his knees

6. “LETTER TO IZRIAH”

Chorus

I struggle to teach you, strive to reach you
My only plan is to make you a man

Love and respect you, always protect you
Stray from greed, you’ll succeed

Embrace the struggle, flex your muscle
Construct your hustle, solve the puzzle

Fight the power, act with honor
If I die before you grow, read this letter from father

Verse I

Baby boy you were a dream but I’m living through a nightmare
Wanna teach you justice but the World don’t fight fair
I swear, the older I get, the more I see, brings me to a dreaded, ugly reality
So much fallacy, greed, deception, and danger
Lust for wealth is like a trigger that’ll bang like a crip or blood
I’ve never lived like a thug, but with the pain I feel I see why people do drugs
And though I ain’t a thug son I’ve always been a bit cynical
Cuz daddy gets stares from folks who they think I’m a criminal
Brown skin, dark eyes, cold touch, I’m hardened
“Racism don’t exist,” I beg your pardon
You’re gonna feel the same, no intention to shield you
Struggle makes you strong, child I feel you
You felt me in the womb fighting demons and ghosts
Some mental, some physical, we feel it the most
We the realest, the hardest, the deepest, the smartest
So the cowards aim at us and make us their targets
We got the hearts of lions, defend honor like martyrs
You’ll grow to be a warrior just like your father
Don’t forget what I teach you, I struggle to reach you
Before them bloodsuckers come rushing to greet you
They are beneath you, don’t let them beat you
Stay true in your heart, son, don’t ever be see through

Verse II

The world is a war zone, sometimes it’s a maze
Fight to keep yourself from getting locked in a cage
Cuz these suits and uniforms are hunting blacks and browns
For the same power structure in these cities and towns
So think with your head when you deal with la jurra
You could be the victim, they’ll make you the shooter
They try to break and abuse you, don’t conform to their team
Resist exploitation on your grind for your cream
They come for your dreams, they come for your life
Like the revolutionaries who fought for our rights
Who are these vultures?, I used to think it was whites
Add a few years to life and I see that ain’t right
“They” come in all colors, souls infested with greed
They murder, maim, and kill for the almighty green
Like Mos Def say: “Who controls the terrordome?
Men with hearts made of stone who only love what they own”
Some men are predators, some skirts are skeezers
They tell you many things you should never believe
You should listen to Kweli / he’s a man with a plan
“If you can talk you can sing, if you can walk you can dance”
Only follow yourself, never bow and be led
Knowledge is power that only manifests in your head
Just keep your head to the sky, load up your fists with that fury
Your truth is your sword, seek light when it’s blurry
Look to your heart when you’re confused, trapped or lost
You gotta keep it movin’ forward no matter the costs
Life’s a gift and a curse, but it’s all we have
One love, signed in blood, a committed young dad.

7. “SEA OF GLASS”

Spoken Segment I

She appeared in darkness,
scaling Chicago walls and swimming through rivers of blood
Her nimble arms propelled her forward,
long black locks swaying elegantly
in toxic pools of uninhibited desire
I gazed hazily at her naked torso,
engrossed in the rhythmic lust of the kill,
hungry for victory, ready to feast
when suddenly her obsidian eyes locked with mine
She pulled off layers of masks,
piercing through sheets of psychic armor,
disarming me of my ability to slay her
I wept at the reality of my own frailty,
peering into the emptiness of the cave in which I hid
Oceans of riddles flooded my mind,
swallowing me into a typhoon of lucid apparitions
about the currents of time and the cycles I’d been swept into

Verse I

Electric bolts of carnage, cataclysms, rage,
mujeres? wage slaves, hunted down, slain,
Stars, moons, trees: raped
backseats, alleyways, signs erased
Spirits abducted, outlines on pavement,
shrieks, concrete erupts in pain
The veins of love punctured, drained
venom injected, life insane
The science of darkness: order maintained
through walls and frames, locks and chains
Hypnotic compliance– slaves of slaves
The dirt weeps, bricks laid
Layers of silence drown out the screams,
masked by dreams of gold-plated streets
Shams of progress pulse through the threads
Truth only loops through the breath of the dead

Bridge I

While wizards weave
visions through strings,
swimming through seas,
Owls are seen
watching through paper,
tracing beings
led to believe
that glass cuts clean

Verse II

Birds dive, skies rise through the towers of fire
Star Wars, hidden goals in the waves they fly
Clouds laced with flames, white trails of haze
Woods blaze, black gold spills in seas of rage
Glass reflect the strain in the change of pace
Taste the pain on the lips of her blistered face:
void of place, cold as stone as her eyes rolled back
Took a second look, saw my fate fade black
market skin and bones, souls post as bail
Heads sip holy water while they wait for bells

Souls post as bail…
Heads sip holy water while we wait for bells

Spoken segment II

Laser-guided projectiles come to screeching halts,
ripping through the tissues of massacred nations?
collective figments of imagination:
myths, signs and symbols sown together
in a double helix of confusion

Parallel universes spiral through space,
blind to the operations of brain surgeons
in cohort with voodoo doctors and mad scientists
Numbers crunched, mazes constructed?
the true math carefully guarded by teams of spies
funded by their own subjects

Ancient kings peer through the looking glass,
jovial in their admiration of age-old designs
that placate sleepy suns and strip earths of their divinity

Bridge II

Murder, pillage, burn, rape
Jail, prison, punish, break
Lock, load, aim, squeeze
Freeze, strip down, knees
bent, kicked, cracked
Cut, gash, bust, blast
Judge, loath, hate, divide
Murder, mo murder, die

Verse III

Resist, re-write, rebel, oppose
Debunk, desist, devise, control
Provide, protect, demand, believe
Construct, rebuild, water seeds
Breathe free, hold weight
Release anger, realize that
the push back ang flames, ignite the passion,
engage in action, alternatives fashioned
Leaders abandoned, strength in the spirit
Trust in yourself and the freedom you fear
Fly till you die, live through your death
Breaking traditions, leaving the flesh
Retracing steps: moments of silence
Units of self in search of the light
We collectively breath, bleed, sweat,
need touch, feel lust, fiend
for meaning, pray to the sky,
racing the currents, Own the time.
Reflect on the fragments scattered beneath
Wake from the nightmares of darkness unseen
The age of revision squarely at hand
Free woman, child, man
Strengthen the body, feel the heart beat
Nourish the mind, cipher complete

8. “OCTOBER MYST”

I got your letter love, made me slip into a coma
Dreams of summertime skies and white-spotted begonias
High tide crashing into the rocks at the break of day
Orange and red rush in, pushing away
the unknown, still so beautiful – the stillness of night,
star-studded darkness, only calmness inside

Tonight I wish that I could go back, but this is my life
On the verge of death, this is my sacrifice

The price of crucifixion, an October night
The aftermath of their wickedness, drowning in blood
Drenched in hate, deep inside, in the back of my head
Far from home, close to hell, garb covered in sweat

Ghosts of history ascending on the cold autumn sky
Life’s lyric filled with tears of the women who cry
Believin’… Pleadin’…
Screamin’… Dreamin’…

For free spirits, bare feet, wind stroking they chests
Open arms, naked soul, juices flowing so fresh
Feel the same passion burning deep inside of my flesh
Hidden deep under my shell but it’s there nonetheless
If only more time, I’m on the verge of the sublime
Walls fall and lines fade, closer to finding
truth under the flames, lampin’ deep in the shade-
covered terrain, on a train, people dancing for rain
Let it drop, fall free, wash away and take back
moments, minutes, seconds, stolen so we could reclaim that
passion deep inside, evident in our eyes,
brown like earth, green like leaves, ocean blue like sky
If only life, every life, cherished deep like a kiss
Intertwined like lovers’ lips, fates joined at the hip
Our destiny to be free, holdin’ onto the promise
Darkness is upon us, but I see tomorrow

Under my breath I curse my mission but it’s all that I have
Quiet nights envisioned for the children of sand
Beyond the rockets’ red glare, I can see in their eyes
Fantasies of different lives, stolen, what is the price

The Earth shakes, shifting plates with the pounding of time
Blind rage penciled in across enemy lines
A swollen stomach, broken spirit, endless weight on my feet
Vomiting lies that seep into the dirt underneath
Beneath the radar, above heads, packaged as product
Flags wave at half mast selling patriots honor
Blood seeps out of wounds, bullets rip through chests
Naked women weep, babies mouths clutched to their breasts
No peace, just a chess piece in the winds of the east
Western rules, kings’ tools, endless sagas of fools
Makes me wanna point my rifle to the tip of my temple
Blast off and release, no more pain in my mental

Loving, squeezing, touching, teasing, I can feel her in-side
Pull her close, nose to nose, nibble, suck, love bite
One more day, one more night, thrusting deep up in-side
Smell sweet lilies, moan, gasp, release (right)
Holding, breathing, clutching, yearning, leaving more than real-ized
Counting concerns, forgetting them, close up the book tight
Needing, breathing, clutching, sleeping paranoid, up at night
Next to a gun, grippin’ a chrome cross I hold tight
Counting my gains, chalkin’ up losses on my wrist watch
Confused and lost as I peruse the costs
of the orders from the boss, the lessons that they taught,
the souls that they bought, all the shells that were dropped

under the master’s watch, this madness has to stop
Get me out of dodge before another casket drops

Cock, lock, aim, pop, bodies stagger, then drop
Lick shots, flip, flop, lifeless corpse, slow rot
Carcasses red hot, oozing juice n’ lead out
Limp, loose, drug out, cast off, next house
Kick door, bust in, look right, left, right
Fire in the sky, rubble, bass, boom, full flight
Bodies erupt, like Fourth of July, limbs fly
Heads crushed, spleens split, bones out, I’m hit
Sound cut, blurry vision, hero dies, mom cries,
Unheard, unnoticed, a victim of deceit
Bald eagles add another flag to their fleet

9. “BEYOND SUNDOWN”

Chorus

Beyond sundown is the plight I’ve accepted
Never-ending energy I’ve directed
Committed to the struggle I fight for my life
For the struggle I fight for my life
No I ain’t livin a lie, and if it came down to it
For my freedom I’d die, for my freedom
For my freedom I’d die…

Verse

Breakin’ molds, that’s the way that I roll
Rock to revolutionary Hip-Hop from the soul
Behold the darkest of hours in their deadly tower
Enslaved in our own brains, that’s the way they keep power
Got somethin like a Vendetta for the arm that controls
the collective, I get vexed at the sound of the voice
that offers choice when there’s none left to take
Swallow the pill, free will, one gulp, now chill
They got us medicated, we never posin’ a threat
Sheep theory, eyes blurry, never breakin’ a sweat
The mind is weak, soul is empty in the cage they made
Hypnotic, enslaved on the road they pave
I ain’t robotic, I got a message for their Father
Raisin’ my middle finger high to the cameras above us
Driving fast, losin’ vision as I skate through the tunnel
Hyper-speed, slow it down to decipher their hustle
Broken pieces, missing links, myths implanted in text
Distracted in cyberspace as we drown in a vortex:
overload of images, industrial violence
Clones are talkin’ mad shit but it’s sounding like silence
Chained to a game that nobody can name
Just reacting to the plan, a billion pawns at play
We struggle and strategize, think we makin’ some progress
But these top-down crooks find a way to co-opt us
We’re so complacent, just followin’ suit
Master plans mapped out in this chase for the loot
But I ain’t givin’ in to these callous angels of death
I’m a fight, heart and spirit till there’s no life left

Spoken word piece by Day Acoli

10. “KITE RUNNER”

Verse I

It ain’t no mystery, check ya history if you’re confused
Blind to the facts, we all set up to lose
Victims to white collar lies and good investments
Political scams are ran with bad intentions
While empty-handed blue collars birth have-nots
and go figure them babies gon’ end up the same
It’s miserably plain and cyclic,
but that’s the way it is, let it kill you or fight it
I chose to throw down, this kid made it out the storm
so I’m toastin yearly on the day I was born
‘Cause I’m soldier, feet to the head, knowing the ledge
Against all odds I’m steady livin’ life on the edge
I only got one shot, one chance, take it and run
Yo I’m never going back, I get up with the sun
And I get down with the moon, and I write these grooves
For my real mutherfuckers, it’s our choice to choose:
You either lay down, drown, and march to the slaughter
Or stand up, stay up, and stay above water
I know it’s gettin’ hotter but I think we can take it
Word to my people, we gon’ make it

Verse II:

I’m on the verge of doing big things, like plotting the stars,
reclaiming the ones that fell, renaming myself
Astrologically break down cosmopolitanisms
that induce feel-good rhythms, yet propagate schisms
Swimmin’ through prisms, and taking weekly trips to the sun
like ancient Mexicans, my journey’s begun
Rewrite history, break laws constructed by man
Recover lost energy fields, bath wounds in the sand
Escape from kite cutters seething at the span of my wings
Nightly routines of offerings to planets that bling
Refract light from the past, in the present I dance
Soul-steppin’ towards the future like a spiraling gas
Poetry penetrating through the cracks in the glass
Rise from ash, crack back, tear the seams off the sash
Spark a blaze, freeze frames, writing rhymes in the sage
I’m not afraid, better late than never, I am the flame
Panged from chains, breaking links, hear the pulse from the bang
Meditating, elevating, flying out of their grave
I AM ALIVE