Free Chorus by Saul Williams Page B

irreverence
    is benign
    compared to all
    the flourish made
    by the winds.
    In the rhythmic
    fueling of my catharsis
    I shred to light
    the beholder stealthily
    and consume my wish
    to be one
    of a shield
    to the peace
    of all.
    Ignited
    to vanish
    in a glimpse
    of crept-tall
    flare blossom
    between light
    and shadow.
    Fixing initiative
    of incongruous art
    as such as
    dust
    we will
    become.

72
    dig
    a little harder
    deeper
    dig
    a little faster
    keep on
    dig
    until morning tugs
    at your backbone
    and sweat stings sun licks
    on the tender of your flesh
    don’t surrender
    dig
    until your knuckles begin to rouge
    and the tips of your fingernails bend
    back
    this can’t break you
    still
    keep on
    digging
    dig
    with bare hands
    and prayer knees
    dig
    with dry tongue
    and withered clothes
    dig
    with ripe eyes
    and cracked heels
    dig some more
    don’t give up
    dig heavy
    Â Â Â Â Â for broken mirror glass,
    Â Â Â Â Â rusty spoons,
    Â Â Â Â Â or doll legs
    Â Â Â Â Â  for ship sails
    Â Â Â Â Â angel casts
    Â Â Â Â Â  broken chariot pieces
    Â Â Â Â Â a sequined dress
    dig
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  for drum hide
    cigarette ash
    emptied vials
    Boogie Man’s shoes
    or a sparrow’s bones
    dig
    for quarters
    tucked in the sole of your left shoe
    dig for the choke
    in the song’s last breath
    dig at ink letters
    until the spines of books twist back
    dig into night
    â€™til you naked the sun
    keep on
    digging
    dig
    â€™til you can piece yourself
    back together again

73
    when I say you remind me of a book’s broken back,
    pages half-sewn and a coffee ring on its face or
    that moment in half-morning where the sun is hesitant
    or after the ground’s been cried upon and everything
    is soft and open or holding the earth’s guts in palm
    just to feel alive amidst all this concrete, my god, what
    I mean to say is this song is an off strum and I like the way
    it hits my ears sideways and how I might be cold and you’ll
    put your coat around my shoulders like the movies and
    I’ll show my teeth and say, who spilled molasses
    over the window,
    making the day golden? You’ll say, beautiful is a dead word
    and I’ll say, so let’s invent, they tell us that star up there blew out
    ages ago and you’ll say, but it still holds 10,000 wishes
    tonight alone and we’ll want to sing with our voices turned
    on backwards, we’ll want to laugh so hard we forget to
    ask why and then lose any use for that word, too.

74
    I wanted to say something beautiful
    How we’ve turned garbage into gold
    How we made a swamp fertile land
    How we turned a curse into a blessing
    How we made a nigger Black
    Wanted to say something
    That would make us stand up
    And be proud
    With the sun shining on our faces
    And in our hearts
    I wanted to say
    But the day wouldn’t let me
    And the skies were too gray
    The air was choking my dreams
    And all the smiles
    On the faces of my people
    Had turned to frowns
    Are we so loving
    That we love what hates us
    That we love what breaks us
    That we love the pain
    That twists our minds into creatures
    -we can’t even recognize
    Are we so strong
    That we play being weak
    I wanted to say something beautiful
    That would lift us up
    Kick depression to the curb
    And walk tall
    In the middle of the storm
    But the storm is raging
    And we are tossed about
    Like rag dolls
    Played with by children of dogs
    And we allow this
    And dance with this noise
    And call it music
    Dress up in the debris
    Of a shattered world
    Where broken bodies and broken hearts
    And blisters from a swollen lie
    Infect our world with disease
    And yet we are the only cure
    For a world gone mad
    If we could stop and see and smell
    The flowers we planted long ago
    Ah I wanted to say something beautiful
    But ugly like a brick in my path
    Keeps tripping me up
    Causing me to fall on my face
    And make me forget
    How beautiful