Mason/Dixon: The Blog

I remember being asked what I wanted to be when I grow up. I can't know how old I was, and that's probably not really important, seeing as how people in their 20s are still figuring out what they want to be when the grow up.

However, I think that for the longest time, I really knew what I wanted to be when I grew up. It started with the usual stuff.

1. Spider-Man.
   
2. Police Officer.
   
3. Teacher.
   
4. Writer.
   
5. Actor.
   
6. Rapper.
7. Male Dancer.

Even now, while I am in college, making the final strides into a lifelong career, I still thought I knew what it is I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing.

But now? I think I know. I think I want to make a change. I think I want to make a difference. I think I am tired of the same old same, the regular routine of drugs and violence, madness and insanity, apathy and laziness. I think I'm getting a little tired of big mouths with silent voices. I think I want to let a revolution take place.

Starting with my words.

Because I am not your black pride poet.

I’ve never been in a Million-man March.

I am not your anti-american, anti-economy, anti-prophylactic poet.

I do not pray to Allah, Buddha or Mary Jane.

I am not your Black Panther, black beret, black record label.

I am not a pop culture icon.

I am not your oooo’s and ahhh’s and militant speeches.

I am a poet.

I am a writer, a human, a blood and bone being.

I am you. I am me. I fight. I bleed. I hide. I seek.

I am music unfiltered.

I am God’s smile. I am God’s dried teardrop.

I am underground music. I smile and frown as I do this.

I am an empty wallet in search of dough.

I am a blank ballot in search of mo’.

I am a written “yes, yes ya’ll”, with the boom, bass and bump.

I am a poet.

I am not a flowery song, I am the song that births flowers.

I am a truthful contradiction, in consonants and vowels.

I am my heart’s cry. I am this nation’s stain. I am this nation’s pride.

I am John Mayer. I am Nas. I am simple. I am lyrical.

I am proof of Proverbs 18:21. I am so much more than letters and words.

I am not a phase, a moment, a fad. I am a ballad. I am a 16-bar freestyle.

I am a poet. And I've got something to say...

because no one else is saying it.

Labels: introduction, poet, write