Creative writing from the Conscious I- thoughts, reflections and ideas expressed in urban literature, Caribbean-themed prose and poetry. This blog celebrates the African Diaspora.
Image via WikipediaGod and Nature first made us what we are, and then out of our own created genius we make ourselves what we want to be. Follow always that great law. Let the sky and God be our limit and Eternity our measurement. - Marcus Garvey
A long time friend asked me the other day, what made me turn to the East. All right, what she asked was about my being Ras. We had an enlightening reasoning about what Rastafari means...to I (me). She didn't realise I have sighted (known) Rastafari's glory for going 'pon twenty years now. But when I thought about it, it wasn't 'til I was in the hole - way dung (down) in the belly of the beast-that I fully embraced the premise and conviction of Rastafari, and found... "Self."
I have come to acknowledge that stagnation is death...anything wha' don't grow or change is stagnant. And, trust me, in the belly of the beast there is much that falls still. But they say "still waters run deep." From Bilal to Malcom, many Lions have emerged from outta the holes to claim, or re-claim, and bask in the glory of Life. Meditaiton, Self-evaluation, and then tuning in to Knowledge-Wisemind (wisdom)-Overstanding (understanding) is the key. Can you not see Starlight brightest in the deepest darkness?
So, Rastafari is...Light. Even in the darkest of times. Put a hibiscus in a dark room and it will wither. But let sunlight strain through a hole in the wall and that flower will gravitate towards that light.
Just knowing the source isn't enough. One has to know, accept, then live it (practice): Knowledge, Wisdom, and Overstanding, respectively. The power, or overstanding, is in practicing what one knows and accepts as Light.
Simplicity by Sizzla...Pree this...Feel these words:
"...its just the meditation of my heart/ is just the pure and conscious thought/ be overstanding a tell you to be smart/ Listen to the children speak the word and shine the light in the dark,yah..."
"Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." -Confucius
"There is no better teacher than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance next time." -Malcolm X
The thing I love most about lyrical word play is its ability to inspire. Word-Sound-Power. One of my favorite poems of all times is Maya Angelou’s “Still I Rise.” The Elder painted the resiliency of the Human I-rit (spirit) with such crimson emotion and golden underlining conviction; I hung her masterpiece in my personal Louvre (Locker 212, along with other works by lyrical artists). Her imagery makes me want to get up, stand up…rise like the Phoenix outta despairing ashes.
Jah knows people need inspiration in these jagged times of socio-economic strife. Some of us looking to the sky for a messiah and praying to heavens that a solution soon fall from above. Nothing nah goh (not going to) drop from the sky, Bredren and Sistren-the Most High reigns from within. We all have an inherent spirit of resilience because Divinity is within us, just tap into it and let the energy flow. Word-Sound drums up Power. Positive lyrics can uplift during the wickedest trials and tribulations… Writers, singers, wordsmiths, better know-ledge!
Tomorrow morning I begin the rest of my life. Man, if you could feel how cold it gets in here, you'd overstand my anxiety for the gradual thawing that my tomorrow promises. As late as the night is, my anticipation for this promise of warmth is what deprives me sleep. It has kept me awake at night, 3,128 to be exact. That's how long I've been exposed to this frigidness. That's a long time-a minute. A looong minute, I know. Something inside me should have died by now, you know-from exposure.
I can barely stand it. Especially at night when I'm on my bunk, alone with my thoughts, the reflections of memories-some vague with the passing of time, others sharp despite it. Only the voice from my radio and solemn songs from the 70's keep me company. This is when the cold is at its lonely worst. It seeps through me, penetrating flesh and bone, until it is imbedded in my spirit, causing my soul to shiver at the steel and concrete and razor wire that engulf it.
Seasons change, but the cold is omnipresent. Something inside me should've died by now.
But, like the sun, it burns continuously in the midst of an algid, empty galaxy, obstinately refusing to succumb to the icy nothingness. And tonight, as I await the dawn, I feel it-this thing that is enflamed deep within me. Is it a ray of emotion ... a spark of hope? ... It is an antiquated remembrance ...
As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world - that is the myth of the atomic age - as in being able to remake ourselves. Mohandas Gandhi
A definition of Revolution is “a drastic and far-reaching change in ways of thinking and behaving; a complete change in ideas, methods, etc.” Me? I danced to various selections over the years- I’ve been a soldier, then eventually a prisoner, mostly to my wants and desires. But I’ve come to realize that the one constant in life is……change.
Some people love buck violently 'gainst that. They’d much rather stick to the crevices and corners they know. I cyaan (can’t) run them down over that-they have their own drum and bass line to dance and windup to, fah real. Bredren, do your thing. But I’ve been cocooned in enough concrete and steel, now I want flutter throughout the world, dipping and lifting with the rhythm of the winds...the winds of change.
Big up Auntie Cee for the encouragement to express myself through my writing...
Kaya Omodele
Image via Wikipedia
