Zaho - Kif'n'dir

A singular artist! C'est vrai que ça fait deux vidéos de suite et de la même artiste en plus mais je n'ai pas pu m'en empêcher. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do ;)

Zaho - Je Te Promets

Thanks sis... now you've got me hooked :)

Latent Emotion

Emotions and feelings are an awful to-do

Perhaps that's the reason

I don't let them show through.

See, these things become messy, and sticky

And so

I look for other ways for me to let you know

How important you are to me in my life

But my subtle overtures have become a cause of strife.

For somehow,

I've failed in my duty to you

To make you aware of how much I do

Care about you, about this, about us

Despite the fact I seem to never make a fuss.

So if circumstances lead you to think,

That when it comes to you

I couldn't give a blink,

Just step back for a minute;

Look past all my fronting- which is purely absurd

Then you'll find that I do care

Far beyond gesture and word.

Conflicting Signals

My strut and swagger
As I walk by your side,
You might think to equate
With youthful pride;
If I get a little giddy
Whenever you swish by
Well I just can't help it,
'Cause you give me a natural high.

When you try to look at me
But I turn the other way;
When you ask for some TLC
And I say that I can't stay;
When you join me and my crew
And I act like you ain't there,
I'm not being heartless and cruel...

Quite the contrary,
It's 'cause I care.

Breaking Point

If you could count the stars
Or number every grain of sand;
If you could divine
All the ways of spirit or of man;
If you could read beyond the surface
and descry the intricacies of the intent within,
Could you still be loving, benevolent, kind?
Or would you seek their utter ruin?

Comment pourrais-je me ficher de toi? Version 2

Je ne me fiche pas de toi.

Tu le sais n'est-ce pas?

Toutes les fois où j'ai pu paraître distant, loin, distrait,

Je ne pensais qu'à toi, tu sais?

Je ne me fiche pas de toi,

Bien que toutes mes pensées je les exprime pas.

Je cherche d'autres moyens de partager ce que je ressens,

Et si mes tentatives ne débouchent pas toujours,

Ce n'est pas par indifférence à toi et tes charmants atours.

Non, je ne me fiche pas de toi;

Que tu le mettes en doute me pousse vers le désespoir.

Comme de la craie sur un tableau noir,

Le mal que ça me fait se lit comme une évidence

Dans chacun de mes mots, de mes gestes, de mes grimaces...

...Et quoique tu serais tentée de croire,

Sache que je ne pourrais jamais me ficher de toi....

Comment pourrais-je m'en ficher de toi?

Je m'en fiche pas de toi.
Tu le sais n'est-ce pas?
Toutes les fois où j'ai pu paraître distant, loin, distrait,
Je ne pensais qu'à toi, tu sais?

Je m'en fiche pas de toi.
Tu le sais bien maintenant,
Sinon pourquoi serais-je resté,
Pourquoi aurais-je toléré
Tes manies, tes jeux, ta naïveté?

Non, je m'en fiche pas de toi;
Pourtant il est temps de te dire au revoir.
Et comme de la craie sur un tableau noir,
Le mal que ça me fait se lit comme une évidence
Dans chacun de mes mots, de mes gestes, de mes grimaces...

Et quoique les autres veulent que tu croies,
Sache que je ne pourrais jamais m'en ficher de toi....

Tinashe - Zambezi

This was too beautiful not to share. I could listen to it over and over again. Matter of fact, I think I will.
Check out more of Tinashe's music at his Youtube channel by clicking on the link below:
http://www.youtube.com/user/tinashetv

Unsaid

I liked you.

I really thought I did.

I liked you from the day I saw you;

Truth is I'd probably like you 
                                         
                                   still....

I fell for you.

I really did.

I fell hard; fell head over heels

And kept on falling 
                                               
                                                   until...

You got me.

You really did.

You had me there for a while

Then the spell was broken 
                                                           
                                 and it fell apart...

                                                              …as things eventually will.

A Man

Walking through the streets one day

In the pouring rain,

There strode a man,

With droplets running down his brow

And dripping from his mane.

A man dressed all in black, 

Very nondescript as a matter of fact,

Not handsome or ugly,

Or even interesting to look at.

He wore no scarf

Nor watch nor hat,

But a man he was,

As simple as that.

He was a man 

Neither silly nor vain,

A man with little worth in just his name

For he bore no titles and desired no fame.

He was a man of an ordinary sort,

With no tales to tell 

Or adventures to report.

A man he was, 

Though simple and plain,

With no wealth or estate he could rightfully claim;
Without embellishments or worldly acclaim,

Yet a man he was,

A man all the same.

Hypothetically Speaking

What if I stopped trying to hide

And simply let go of my folly and pride?

What if today were the day

I gave up on the games

And stopped being so preoccupied with issues of shame?

What if I stopped trying so hard

And simply let go and let God?

What if today were the day

All your dreams came true?

Would it be worth all the things you had to go through?

What if you found out

You only had hours to live,

Would you still be proud of all the things you did?

What if you lost the thing

You've been holding on to with all your might,

Would you still have the courage to plod on and fight?

What if after all the years 

Of being adamant and headstrong,

We suddenly woke up to find we were wrong?

What if we gave our best

Even when the way got rough,

And found that our best was not good enough?

What if we had all the answers,

Would we still have questions?

And if we had no questions,

Could we still learn life's lessons?

What if we abandoned all lies

And lived only for truth

Would we be humble enough 

To accept the truth about me and you?

What if we stopped being enemies

And tried to be friends

Would the time we had left suffice to make full amends?

What if you were me and I were you

Do you think we each could walk a whole mile in the other's shoe?

Brandy "Warm It Up (with love)" Music Video

With all the stuff going on in today's world, I just feel like this is a video with a powerful message that should be shared.

Who says TV is all JUNK and no substance?

In yet another departure from what I usually do on this blog, I'd like to share a couple of quotes that have spoken to me lately. They are both from television so those of you looking for classical literature or something a little more hoity-toity shouldn't get your hopes up. Anyway, here they are:

"At a certain point in your life, probably when too much of it has gone by, you will open your eyes and see yourself for who you are, especially for everything that made you different from all the awful normals. And you will say to yourself, 'But I am this person.' And in that statement- that correction- there will be a kind of love." Miss Dodger, Phoebe in Wonderland

"Unacknowledged feelings are like a drunken cousin at a family reunion.They never shut up so you can hear anyone else and you have to be able to hear what's next in your life, what path you might want to travel down... you have to be able to see what's right there, right there, right in front of your eyes..." Nora Walker, Brothers & Sisters

On Being

Originally ordinary,

Uniquely gifted,

Singularly me...

My life a journey, 

My days an Odyssey,

A work of art in the making,

Each second a brushstroke 

on virgin canvas;

The swift motion of passing moments

weaving fresh strings into the living tapestry.

This is the beauty of our being,

The lustre of individual lives 

Whose sum total reflects

The essence of existence...

The splendour of the great

I AM

Life

Energy in action

Poetry in motion

Honest and false;

Fair and foul;

Gentle and violent

Romp around on the same playground

Light and dark;

Truth and error;

Fact and fallacy

Lie together in the same bed

Endless possibility,

Journey with no itinerary,

River ever flowing,

Tapestry ceaselessly evolving,

Hands tirelessly working,

Matchless artwork unresting in the carving...

Confessions of an Emotional Junkie

Damn gotta get me a hit!

Been a while since my last fix

And I already got the jitters.

Usin’ is pain

But not usin’ is pure hell.

Spend my days hopped up on the stuff

And it feels so good.

My nights are kaleidoscopic -

It’s trance-coloured, psychedelic bliss baby.

Obsession with the next fix occupies my lucid moments:

Where I’mma get it,

Who gonna supply it,

How I’mma enjoy the rush

And keep my lil secret safe.

The best part is I pay nothing.

Dealers don’t know they dealin’

Victims don’t know they bein’ victimized-

Everybody wins!

…Everybody but me.

I feed myself on fantasy,

Flatter myself with honey-scented lies

That make me feel better

And take my mind off the things

I need to,

But don’t want to, think about:

I objectify

And project 

Anxieties, fears, pressure, expectations

Through other eyes.

Combined with copious amounts of guilt and judgment,

You get a heady, intoxicating concoction

Guaranteed to give you the ultimate rush.

Am I a masochist?

Maybe a little.

Cause I’m locked in a prison of my own design

Yet cannot bring myself to use the key dangling from my neck

To free myself.

Freedom is foreign

And hurt is my drug,

That’s how I get my buzz.

I’m so far gone;

I’m in so deep;

I’m down so low

That the low gives me a high

And makes me fly

Up to the sky-

I’m way up there like my own constellation.

I’m speeding like a comet.

I blaze up on re-entry

Till I hit the ground

In a smoldering crater.

Then I’m up again,

Caught in my perpetual

Crash and burn cycle.

Caravane d'été 2010 - la prévention des catastrophes

Until

Stay

Until the rain subsides:

With our shoulders barely touching,

And only static-charged air in between;

While the sound of the raindrops

Make melody amidst the leaves,

Sliding languidly from one to the other,

Rolling from twig to branch to trunk

Penetrating soft earth toward root.

Watch.

While seed becomes sprout

And bright infant green

Matures into deep, virile tropical hues.

Fast-forward from one season to the next,

While the sun runs its daily race

Across  azure, misted, greyed-over vault.

Life taking its course.

Until the last drops of dew

Evaporate from the last blossom.

Linger on

Beside me.

Hold me in your gaze-

Now smouldering passion,

Now soft and tender,

Foggy with sleep,

Bright with excitement,

Seeing through me and all the fronts I put up,

Looking past the present into the future-

Until the stars go out,

And the horizon begins to glow.

Be

Yourself

With me.

Grow.

Evolve.

Chill.

Get wild,

Throwing caution to the wind.

But be.

Until our bodies intertwine

In time,

‘Til our hearts collide and bond,

Til our minds become as one.

Til the ocean says your name

And the clouds draw you portraits of me.

Be.

Be mine

And I be yours.

While cities grow,

And children become the elderly,

While wars rage,

And we age,

While crises come and go,

And we fight our battles aft and fore,

Til the tempest calms

And lets us drift into beyond.

Maturity

How can you say I'm not grown?

Stretched to my bordering 6-foot length,

I'm almost a giant compared to you!

How can you say I am not a man?

Watch me stroke the stubble growth

Stamping the virile seal on my chin.

How dare you assume me to be less than an adult!

I work for my money, I bring home the bacon,

Taking care of myself- I am handling my business,

Thank you very much!

So what if I throw the occasional fit

When I don't get my way?

I don't see you dancing with glee

When things don't work out.

Think you all that and a bag of chips

Just because you married

Got a couple kids

That don't make you my daddy!

I stand on my own

And I'm damn proud,

So don't you pity me

Save your charity for the beggars.

Say I got avoidance issues.

Well Mr. Psychologist,

Before you try to analyse me

Why don't you go dust off the skeletons in your closet!

I sound angry?

Damn straight!

I'm mad as hell!

What you gon' do 'bout it- nigga?

I work,

I sweat,

I till the earth,

I make ideas blossom,

I bend over backwards

In positions they'd have to edit  the Karma Sutra to catalogue!

On the grind

All the time.

And what that get a brother?

I'll tell you what a brother get-

A big fat-ass lump of golden nothing!

Yeah I got issues,

I give everything

To a job I hate

And would leave in a heartbeat

If I didn't have all these bills due.

So you think you know me?

Think you got me figured out?

Well to hell with you and all your theories,

Mr. university graduate!

I got better things to do.

Unseemly? Vulgar? Unsightly?

Does my emotion bother you?

Make you uncomfortable?

Too messy?

Oh I should have some decorum?

Well guess what Mr. Maturity

That's life.

And this is where my humanity is at.

So I'm going to bare my soul.

Strip down and let it all hang out.

Dip my thang,

Scream to the heaven.

Then, Imma pick up my clothes,

Lick my wounds,

Bathe,

Get dressed,

And start again.

At least I deal with my stuff.

And that is my maturity!

THAW

Today I looked up

And saw the sky

And trees

And birds

And things lofty and high.

Today I let my gaze wander

Past the sight of things familiar

To rest on those beyond the scope

Of me and I and ego.

That glimpse my inner being awoke.

Today I saw,

I heard,

I felt

The world afresh

Like a small bear cub after the winter melt.

I felt…

Looking Through Fresh Eyes

Walking down the street today I had an experience that I just couldn't help but share. Without over exaggerating things, I have to say that I feel like I bordered on epiphany. I can’t quite explain exactly how it happened but, all of a sudden, I looked up and saw a balcony on a building that I must have passed at least a hundred times in the last six years. That one balcony looked like such a perfect place to relax and people watch, that I started to look around me at the other buildings I passed to see what I might have missed as I rushed by in the whirlwind of activity that has been my life over the past four years.  I honestly have to say, I was taken aback by the number of extraordinarily ordinary details I've seen but never noticed in my frenetic ego-centric rush to get here or go there or do this or that.

I suppose that what I'm really talking about is taking the time to smell the proverbial roses. It's something we talk about enough but one which not many of us actually do. And it seems like the older we get (at least in my experience), the less we live. And I'm not just talking about having fun either because what strikes me as I write this, is that we can even get so absorbed in our pursuit of pleasure that we still don't really enjoy living. I mean, can you call a life where you're constantly exhausted as a result of overwork, excessive partying or anything else living?

This quite ordinary experience has really opened my eyes to the way I've been going about my life. It's not to say that I regret anything, I just realize that I need to step back from my own stuff on a regular basis in order to look at the big picture. Interestingly enough, it showed me that I don't even have to take time out to do so. I mean, I was on my way to the tax office at the time it happened, (I know, who needs the club when there's the tax office right?). It's something we can do while about our daily business. It can really be that simple.

So, why not take a couple seconds to slide your stuff over into a corner and look at what's out there- besides you. This is by no means an endorsement of procrastination, mind you. If you have a report due and shirk that to go traipsing through the local mall, don't cite me as the one who told you to do it! But do take a minute to think outside your schedule, your friends, your responsibilities, your pleasure, your needs and wants because there's a great big world out there! It's quite easy and most of all, it will leave you energized and refreshed like nothing else- and who knows, you just might find the inspiration you need to tackle your own issues. 

Here's to a new perspective on living!

Bottom to Top

It’s impossible.
I can’t.
You won’t make it.
He’ll never amount to anything.
Why bother?
No one cares about you.
Stupid girl!

So many things we are told;
So many things that are imposed,
Allowing ourselves to be sold
Into slavery;
Chained to fallacy;
Sentenced to misery.
Till one dares to give the shout,
To sound the alarm
And cry
Get out!

Gone the time of self reproach,
The days of weakness past.
Now a new dawn has broke.
A soul from nightmare prison woke.
Forging ahead,
Free from dread.
Ready to give.
Free to breathe,
To love,
To hope,
Living truly
Not simply trying to cope.
Standing tall
And firm
And grand,
No longer a boy
At last a man.

Two Become One

He is happy.
You knew just what to do,
The right words to say,
The right places to touch.

He is content.
You are his adoring little wife
Quiet, obedient,submissive:
The perfect companion.

He is disappointed.
You weren't a big enough depository
For all his expectations
And dared to make it known.

He is afraid.
You let your potential shine.
Rather than stay in the corner he assigned you
You stepped up to meet new challenges.

He is confused.
You challenge his omnipotence,
Standing on your own two feet.
So where does that leave him?

He is angry.
You didn't keep your word.
You didn't stick to the plan
And the terms of your agreement have changed.

He is quiet.
You argued;
He yelled
And there is nothing else to be said.

He is pensive.
You have stepped back
To allow him space to come to terms
With a world turned on its head.

He is enlightened.
You are not the source of his woes;
You are not witholding
The keys to his happiness.

He is healed.
You are wife, lover, mother, friend.
You are strong, fragile, beautiful.
You are an individual and now part of a team.

My Future Self

First to fear;
Last to run.

Number one talker;
Champion listener.

Mature and wise-
An immaculate child.

Always tactful;
Ever truthful.

Strong and brave;
Weak enough to admit wrong.

Flexible and understanding;
Principled and firm in resolve.

Confident in who he is;
Meek and unassuming in manner.

Able to seek advice;
Capable of standing in his own counsel.

Rooted deeply in the Word;
Free from superstition.

Such qualities attract me to others
And draw from me mingled envy and admiration.
These I strive daily to cultivate,
In order to become
The man,
The friend,
The brother,
The son
And, one day, the father
I was put on this earth to be.

Three Strikes

One appeared on the doorstep.
Two arrived hand in hand.
Three came together
And were well met.

Once I tried to show you my mind.
Twice you seemed to want it.
Three times we purposed to start anew
But good intentions always fell through.

A little is better than glut.
Be still and value the treasure locked in silence.
See things for what they are
Prizing essence above form.

One time is enough for the wise.
Two blows make for experience.
Three strokes are often needed
Before words of reproof are heeded.

Once I fell,
A-shamed of my mistakes.
Twice I stopped abrupt and stood,
Be-set by guilt and trepidation.
Three times I changed courses
Seeing fresh perspective after each trial.

Compliments of...

The thought of you
Sends delightful shivers along my spine
As you excite,
Delight,
Entice,
My very nerve cells.

My heart leaps
At the sight of you
You thrill me,
Move me,
Warm me,
Fill me
You make me glad.

Your smile
Makes me grateful for the gift of sight
You are inspiration,
Temptation,
Beautification
To my spirit.

If I could count all the ways
You help to make me better
I would have a list ever-lengthening,
Ever-changing,
Never-ending
Oh the things you do to and for me!

I want to be Yours
I want to give you my greatest gift
A heart overflowing,
A Spirit in bloom,
A person whole and full
In return for Who You are.