The sound
This is the sound x 4
You are the sound
I am the sound
We are the sound
This is the sound

This is the sound of a drum beating
a DJ spinning
a new beginning
the third eye blinking
This is the sound of the crowds chanting
and the sound of a poet ranting
This is the sound of a heart broken
and the sound of the words that go unspoken
This is the sound of a ghetto kid dyin
and sound of his sad mamma cryin
This is the sound of revolution at all costs
and the sound of all the years lost
This is the sound of activism
and the sound of individualism
This is the sound that leads the way
and the sound of today
This is the sound of a better tomorrow
and the sound of learning to change and grow
This is the sound of how we get down
and the sound of the tree that falls when no one is around
This is the sound, yeah this is the sound

Somehow I knew the words to a song I’d never heard
The speakers ring out loud the words we inherit from our ancestors
Although we create our own dialect and slang it into the mic
We are really cyphering stories passed on through generations
We make it fresh, insert our own beats
We express our experiences
We update the past
We live for the sound, and the sound lives for us
We are the sound
This is the sound


This is the sound of the 5 star collective
and the sound of the new massive
This is the sound of the next movement
and the sound of struggling to pay rent
This is the sound of the empire when it falls
and the sound of the mic checks, the yes, yes, ya’lls
This is the sound of the war time bomb drops
and the sound of the racist cops
This is the sound of paying back student loans
and the sound blasting on your headphones
This is the sound of the revolution televised
and the sound of getting the masses organized
This is the sound of finding your roots
and the sound of defining your own truth
This is the sound of all the bad times
and the sound of all the good times
This is the sound for all my sisters and brothers
the sound for all of those who consider themselves the others
This is the sound of change
and the sound of thoughts that rearrange
This is the sound of the government laughing
This is the sound of one hand clapping


You are the sound.
I am the sound.
We are the sound.
This is the sound.

Verbal Graffiti
Tonight is a celebration of life.
Tonight is a celebration of the words we live, breath, and write.
Tonight is a celebration of spoken word poetry.
Tonight is a celebration of verbal graffiti.
We speak the music of everyday life
The beat of the heart
The tempo of work
The rhythm of love
The voice of hope
We ascribe words to emotions
And proclaim the power of thought
We scribble funny stories
Or write about collected memories or forgotten histories
And turn life’s chaos into beautiful spoken word symphonies
We can be on that serious tip, like:
But other times my lips scream a song,
That my heart long forgot
And as I try to hum along to a long lost song
My tongue covers centuries of muted oppression
And I find purpose for this piece
See no matter what the topic
I always sing this song,
For my ancestors long gone
For the ones who help on strong
For the ones who slavery and colonization did wrong
I sing this song for my family
The ones who love and support me
The ones who moved here for me
I sing this song for my friends
The ones who and are here now and till the ends
See poets, we be the word selecta’s
We be the everyday life collectors
See sometimes we are that creative revolutionary spark
Sometimes we are that thing you just thought
Sometimes we are that childhood memory
Sometimes we are that sacred love story
I whisper so loud you can feel it!
Yet some people say this poetry we speak ain’t got no relevance
You say you still don’t identify
Even if you feel it, you probably sit there, dis and deny
But thats alright cos-
I spray verbal graffiti all over the walls of your mind
I write for everyone
I spray for you
I spray for me
I spray poetry
The world is my mural
I write for the uptowns
I write for the downtowns
I write for Gardena, my hood
I write for that Beverly Hills 90210 kinda neighborhood
I spray for the punk rocks
I spray for the hip-hops
I spray for the dreadlocks
I spray for the haves, but mainly the have-nots
I write for my sisters, and I write for my brothers
Whether they family or not
I write what I know,
So myself and others can grow
I write what I see,
Whether it be success or poverty
I write cos everyday we struggle
Everyday we succeed
Everyday we fail
Everyday we rise
Everyday we fall
I write cos there’s a war
I write cos we ain’t gonna take it no more
No matter what we gotta keep on keepin’ on
We gotta keep on movin’ on
We gotta keep on dreamin’ on
We gotta keep on teachin’ on
We gotta keep on livin’ on
And I promise to keep on sprayin’ on
Tonight I write to celebrate life
Tonight we spray verbal graffiti to celebrate life

Yes, this is from that magnetic poetry in a box thing, but so what.
Did you search and find it this time?
Fighting the moment
I say grow, live, listen, think, compare
Understand
Always positive
So find it
the
Light
the
Sound
the
Music
Find it
* Life
*Soul
*Culture
*Art
*Politics
And let your world know my world.
And I'll let my world know yours.

ONE
It’s not that one I’m worried about
Yeah I believe in that one love, one life, one people, one world, one mic, kind of life
All those one’s don’t got me worried
See I’m worried bout that other 9 outta 10
That won’t feel this
Or won’t see this
Or won’t hear this
Or won’t live this
They won’t hear the word drop
They’re only worried about that rise to the top
It’s that other 9/10 that’ll ask what are you?
Instead of who are you?
It’s that other 9/10 that’ll say “damn your hood is ghetto”
Instead of trying to get to know you
It’s that other 9/10 that try to keep you down
Instead of helping us achieve that crown
It’s that other 9/10 that discriminate because of the colored cover of this book
Instead of giving you a friendly look
It’s that other 9/10 that’s plotting your demise
Instead of helping us organize
It’s that other 9/10 that follow the MTV/BET wanna-be bougie’s
Instead of working on being free
It’s that other 9/10 that use schools to dictate the laws of the state
Instead of trying to really educate
We got 9 vs. 1
So theres a lot of work to be done
Cos to me that nine-tenths don’t make any sense
But we are that one
You one
I’m one
Until we’ve won/one together
One love
One sister
One brother
One movement together
You feel that
You feel this ONE