Best Served With– Leaves by Dave B.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8D2QBC0bDY
A tear to run a mile
It likes to jump ahead
But will have to dodge a mine
Past once upon a time…
I remember when first we met
And yet, it eludes me
A majestic mirage
Shimmering in the lake of our friendship.
It drifts downstream,
As azure tendrils caress it
Singing a champion’s bard,
Decorating the air;
the harmony of rushed waters.
The bee boasts not of its wings
But whips its tail with its peers.
Best Served With: Kevin’s Heart by J Cole
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EixT3caIuxM
I’m just on my own
Don’t know why you bother me,
Princess or a President,
I know which face I’ll be
You’ll always see exactly what it is
I want you to see,
Identity in crisis,
Can I fake eternally?
Best served with: Written in the Stars by John Legend
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdVmKpwlj80
Ad hominem ultra
From the skies above to the ground under,
Life has always taken life,
There is always something better.
The Greeks thought and wondered,
Till just reality remained to conquer:
Gaia surpassed Titans,
Titans above Gods,
Gods over demigods,
Demigods crushed Emperors
Emperors ruled Greeks,
Greeks colonised humans.
Ad hominem ultra
There is no instrument like ganja,
A welcoming white mouthpiece,
Arms open, ready to receive,
Makes a man a mountain,
Wash your heat; a fountain.
Ad hominem ultra
With life comes order,
Humanity begets imperfection,
A satisfying emptiness none can escape,
Born, learn, earn, give life, die.
Dust to flesh
Flesh to dust,
Ad hominem ultra
Can you commit murder?
Can you forsake your morals?
Can you betray another?
Can you become stronger?
No.
You’re just a man
I am because I am
And I am more,
When I dance to ganja,
I am more.
Ad hominem ultra.
Best served with: Written in the Stars by John Legend.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdVmKpwlj80
Ad hominem ultra
A glorious stallion crowns the horizon,
Its white mane slapping sense into the breeze,
Its brown skin laughs arrogantly,
As the sun hovers.
Eyes with goals
It moves with purpose
As it moves
The ground convulses
Life flies faster with hiccupping invasion
Two by two, touch by touch.
Trailing it— a panting black horse,
With strides the same as a man’s feet,
His trudge bears no remorse,
He feels the need to compete.
Ad hominem ultra
The prey chases the hunter,
O, mercy have you no heart?
O, justice have you no soul?
No matter how much its teeth hit iron,
A cat can never eat a lion.
Ad hominem ultra
The sloth has nothing more to offer,
It knows you see it,
And with one touch you could kill it,
But on this cold November night,
You are nothing but a bother.
Best Served with Quiet by Rachel Yamagata
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcSM0v9XcWA
You remember this?
Our past; riddled with books and beating,
With afternoons of backyard football,
Our blood; swimming in the meat pie we were eating.
Do you remember it?
The eye-service we paraded,
Our bodyguard; it stood tall,
Blocked out Aunty Oyin’s noise,
And the stoning of our house gates.
Do you remember us?
Nights we scrunched our eyes not too tight,
To pass Daddy’s inspections,
Because we watched Africa Magic at night.
Our sin; I’ll keep it to my last light.
Do you remember me?
How I used to be?
A naïve, naked, bigheaded caterpillar,
A decade has passed and I’m still the same.
I remember you
How you used to be,
An arrogant butterfly; larger than life,
So many dreams,
So little time.
I know now we’re all tough and grown,
You seem to have it all together,
But I wish you were a little more childish—
I miss my old big brother.
Do you remember Eze goes to school?
It was the first book Daddy asked me to read.
And I read it on your bunk bed,
It was short, lonely and immature,
But it was the best book I ever read.
Best Served with: Pussy is Mine by Miguel
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wI3sSlKvA3o
I have been in love with you for time,
Tried everything to make you mine,
Misfortune for me; your presence so sublime,
Brine-like love, love like brine.
Piercing brown eyes penetrate,
Like rusted needles commanding submission,
A tower of grace on you exuberates,
My despair a wonderful addition.
Lush brown locks; insidious,
Smooth chocolate skin; enticing,
I’m so stupid I believed in us,
Bathsheba’s poison; reciting.
I wonder if you ever loved me?
Love let your circus monkey’s stupidity fester,
I now realize the role of you and me,
You’re the queen and I’m the jester.
Angels sing everything you say,
I’m a comedy for your friends to play,
Though that elegance for me refused to stay,
My love still chased you all the way.
Your Highness,
Lofty heights you conquer,
Those lofty peaks I lust after,
Self-conscious of the entertainment I am,
I can’t help but stutter.
Fields of flowers bow,
Plastered on every step taken,
Mother Nature gave you a crown,
And your subjects stand shaking.
Love and laughter with each word spoke,
Laughter kills love with each joke told.
I have one last act,
Tale of tales, finale of finales,
Under all that glory and grace,
Lies not a speck of regality,
With the spite and ugliness you hide,
I’ll fit your corset but first I’ll die,
Tonight, the curtains close,
My dear Audience don’t look aside,
This woman is a decomposing lemon,
Sweet on the surface, sour inside.
So ladies and gentlemen
The most expensive line ever spent,
My greatest punchline to you I present,
The funniest words I ever spoke
“Your kingdom exists as a single joke”.
Best Served With: 80s by Berhana
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT62dDZIeQo
You think my destination is a choice?
That I transverse this roughness because I am able?
You think I’d come all the way here just for this noise?
To be saddled and spanked like a horse in a stable?
Unbelievable. You are fucking unbelievable.
I had a home.
Its warm branches cradled my face like a sunset breeze,
Rooted in culture’s succulent embrace; I’d grown,
Covered by family, friends, lovers, tradition, ‘twas bliss,
Hope chased happiness in the front yard,
While Love stood tall in the back.
Yes. I had a nurturing, caring, loving home.
And I was free.
And then it all vanished in broad daylight,
Blasted to bits by propaganda that terrorists sought,
My relatives obliterated before they could think a thought,
Worse still these eyes could not witness so sorry a sight.
That selfsame fate left me no time to unwind,
So, with an infant in hand and grief in mind,
I packed my emotions as they hurt me so,
And crossed the Atlantic as I had nowhere else to go.
So here I am laid bare in front of you,
With a bleak past and an unfortunate present,
But it seems my fortune is bent,
Delivered to your mercy though suffering I relent,
Whether your country becomes my new home,
Or I and my child die; lost in place, stuck in time,
Depends wholly on your thoughts and talk
I hear Fortune’s laughter reveling its best work;
My whole life has been a cruel joke,
And it seems this point—right now– is the punchline.
