What is it about past images that
plague us
Make us do things we don't mean
to prove
we are compassionate
That we care
When all we care about
is not
being defined
by those past images
Disingenious
Bitches
I ain't fooled
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Monday, October 29, 2007
Monday, July 02, 2007
Posting My Poetry
ETERNITY
To name everyone would be an exercise in perpetuity.
I only have one life and it will end at some point.
I'll try when I have a better grasp on eternity. ©
-Qelsi
PRESENT PEOPLE
We are the present people
The people who picked so much cotton
that it comes out of our head
Thoughts are soft
and warm
get entangled
enabling no detangling
Present People ©
-Qelsi
PAUSE FOR BULLSHIT
I come froma long line of women who have
unswerving glances
So pardon me if I don't pause
for bullshit. ©
-Qelsi
OF THE SHED
Benign knees knock to expectant beats
and chilly peels back any courage
from the fire
We ain't waitin no more
thrust into the throbbing pulse
of a snowy , snowy city
How could we not be confused
and cold
this is not the new way of doing
business
rather the old...
anticipating greatness is hard
uptown infamy don't come
to everybody
Only those with the courage to leave it alone
You can write a million books
about life and still never reach
the mountain top
Or you can listen with intent
intentness
and never hear angels sweeping the sky
The sirens ring loud
The townspeople hide
And the steely peace drifts down
to hide
There is noise of fears and knees
knocking
Trying to huddle close but repelled
by their stare
caught in a conundrum
to run or fight
there is no need to stand
in front of the hate of men
those who fled
Bled blood
we can still smell
to this day
Imperialist imperialism Swept it all away
Thinking we would forget
But the smell of the shed
Is still in the air
And on the land
and in our hair
and on our hands. ©
-Qelsi
BEAUTY
Beauty is never
in the eye of the beholder.
Somebody was lying when they told
me that
There is no simple solution
to find where beauty sleeps
Her care be way deep
In that aesthetic territory
that divides nations and rapes
women
Beauty is some mess we made up
to pretend we like somebody
for a little bit. ©
-Qelsi
DEVIL'S CANDY
You are the devil's candy
The delight that makes
me wait to act right
Stumbling down school corridors
Watching everyone learn
With you in my pocket
I finger the devil's candy
And let the wrapper
crackle
through my finger
I wait some more. ©
-Qelsi
To name everyone would be an exercise in perpetuity.
I only have one life and it will end at some point.
I'll try when I have a better grasp on eternity. ©
-Qelsi
PRESENT PEOPLE
We are the present people
The people who picked so much cotton
that it comes out of our head
Thoughts are soft
and warm
get entangled
enabling no detangling
Present People ©
-Qelsi
PAUSE FOR BULLSHIT
I come froma long line of women who have
unswerving glances
So pardon me if I don't pause
for bullshit. ©
-Qelsi
OF THE SHED
Benign knees knock to expectant beats
and chilly peels back any courage
from the fire
We ain't waitin no more
thrust into the throbbing pulse
of a snowy , snowy city
How could we not be confused
and cold
this is not the new way of doing
business
rather the old...
anticipating greatness is hard
uptown infamy don't come
to everybody
Only those with the courage to leave it alone
You can write a million books
about life and still never reach
the mountain top
Or you can listen with intent
intentness
and never hear angels sweeping the sky
The sirens ring loud
The townspeople hide
And the steely peace drifts down
to hide
There is noise of fears and knees
knocking
Trying to huddle close but repelled
by their stare
caught in a conundrum
to run or fight
there is no need to stand
in front of the hate of men
those who fled
Bled blood
we can still smell
to this day
Imperialist imperialism Swept it all away
Thinking we would forget
But the smell of the shed
Is still in the air
And on the land
and in our hair
and on our hands. ©
-Qelsi
BEAUTY
Beauty is never
in the eye of the beholder.
Somebody was lying when they told
me that
There is no simple solution
to find where beauty sleeps
Her care be way deep
In that aesthetic territory
that divides nations and rapes
women
Beauty is some mess we made up
to pretend we like somebody
for a little bit. ©
-Qelsi
DEVIL'S CANDY
You are the devil's candy
The delight that makes
me wait to act right
Stumbling down school corridors
Watching everyone learn
With you in my pocket
I finger the devil's candy
And let the wrapper
crackle
through my finger
I wait some more. ©
-Qelsi
Friday, February 10, 2006
That Po, Black and now Landless Bitch: Hurricane Katrina and her debt to New Orleans
There has been so much controversy over Hurricane Katrina, and rightly so. This is one of the major disasters of the 21st century and the government seemed late on the draw. All the reporters could think to call US CITIZENS were refugees and our government moved slow as molasses to save human life. In the meantime, people died needlessly. The breakdown was on so many levels it was horrendous, especially given the fact that this kind of disaster was completely expected if not anticipated. Now in the wake of a mess of a situation, Katrina victims are handed yet another whammy. They may have to give up the land that spit them so far away from their homes. And not only will they lose this land, but they will lose it at a post-Katrina appraised price or maybe even eminent domain.
First, I must digress and start at the beginning. I haven't written anything about this event so I feel the need to vent. I am incensed at the fact that the governor and Bush would order the police and the national guard to shoot US citizens on site for looting. REMEMBER WHEN THEY ORDERED THIS, THE EVACUEES HADN'T HAD FOOD AND WATER FOR AT LEAST 3 DAYS DUE TO BREAKDOWNS ON MANY DIFFERENT GOVERNMENT LEVELS. How are people to survive? We all know that business and poverty will never go together in this country, but in the face of a natural disaster all lines should be placed to the side. People are stuck in the Super Dome with no electricity and backed up sewers. They are dying around each other. Others are in the convention center on a phantom order that aid and assistance await them. Both places are under insufferable conditions. Others are also stuck on the top of the I-10 overpass with alligators and raccoons traipsing in the night. What is it about America that doesn't understand survival? Why ask these people to be timid and ignore basic human will? Is it because most of them were black or is it because most of them were poor? Then there are heartening stories of a man hot wiring a bus, going around and picking stranded people up, driving them to safety and the police arrest him for stealing a bus. It is stories like these that, in other circumstances, would be stories of heroism. They would be stories of a community coming together in the face of a crisis. In this case, these stories are reduced to yet another crime statistic. Survival is ignored, themes of "banding together to overcome" are ignored and are instantly displaced by petty crime.
What is known is that even in the face of a natural disaster, the federal government will leave you stranded with no concern. And even if you are not black, don't you dare be poor and unable to leave your city. And let us not forget nor put it to the far recesses of our memory, that New Orleans has its "old world" feel that brings people from miles away because of these shamefully depressed areas of the city. The same depressed areas that are being blamed for not heeding federal and state warnings of evacutation. These are the people in the city that would be employed in the service industry of the city. Lest we forget that New Orleans gets the bulk of its money from conventions dumping money and ready-to-gamble US citizens at its doorstep. The service industry has to be at the top of the employment food chain. Where do you think the people who work there come from, the French Quarters? Right. But in the end, it doesn't matter. If any stroke of bad luck happens to you, the government on all levels are liable to blame you for not being able to follow orders and get out of the city. It only serves to redouble the already unreliable feeling amongst the African-American community. However, facts are facts. What happened is what happened and it can't be disputed. People were left to die with an afterthought of concern. For at least five days, human beings were left with no food and water. For at least five days people were promised aid that "was coming" but never seemed to arrive. What we all know is that what happened on day 6 and 7, is what should have happened on day 1 and 2 of this disaster. I have never lived in a country where I pay, not only state but federal taxes, an area is affected by a disaster and and the leader of the country can't help people in a timely fashion.
I know that Republicans believe in states rights and for that reason Bush may have wanted to allow the state to handle the problem. However, this was a major disaster and if assistance was never asked by the governor then there should have been someone to remind her how crazy she was for not asking for it. Then there should have been someone to make it clear to her that federal assistance was not only desired but necessary. On top of this, I know bush is an advocate of the business community, however, in an atmosphere of disaster, looting should be disregarded in the bigger face of rescue and recovery. In the end, businesses would write off most of their items because of the water damage and toxins that would imbue each item. Plus the looters will not be able to go far with these items. They are stuck in a toxic soup for which they will have to walk miles and miles and probably have to swim to leave. Even with both of these points, everything still pales in the face of rescue and recovery missions. In any case when the federal government has not done their job and the state government has not done its job, what right do they have to ask people to die silently? What right is it that they ask people not to feed themselves. What right is it that they have to tell the local law enforcement to shoot US CITIZENS. Is looting wrong, why yes it is? However, those of you who believe the thousands of people who did not get food and water for 5 days and lived in squalor (much worse then their existence on an everyday basis) due to governmental negligence are wrong for feeding themselves, you're on the wrong side of the issue. Never forget that. And never forget that humanity trumps possession. Throughout the months following Katrina, many people have made it clear that they don't agree with my assessment of the situation. For those of you who don't, I hope you are never in a position that you are incapable of getting out of and need assistance that comes 5 days after you need it. In that situation I fully expect each and every one of you to waste away. Don't survive. Die off from something as simple as food and water. Die off because you need an insulin shot. Die off because you need your medication. I fully expect each and every one of you to sit timidly amongst filth, waste and death and do nothing but wait for the help that is promised but might come 5 days later.
Now...onto the new issue...land.
On top of an already decrepit and retarded response, a panel under Mayor Ray Nagin is putting forth a proposal, requiring displaced victims prove their neighborhoods can be viable and worth rebuilding within a 4 month timeline. Their proposal indicates that even though some people who may want to rebuild their neighborhoods will have a say in proposing viability, some property will have to be seized by eminent domain. Not to mention, on a whole seperate issue, the Corps of Engineers will have to "buy" land appraised at post-Katrina prices in order to strengthen the levees. This fiasco is far from over. With every twist and turn, I get more and more tired of blatant rights being violated. I can't imagine how I would feel if I actually lived in New Orleans because if this is what the nation hears, who knows what is actually going on.
First, I must digress and start at the beginning. I haven't written anything about this event so I feel the need to vent. I am incensed at the fact that the governor and Bush would order the police and the national guard to shoot US citizens on site for looting. REMEMBER WHEN THEY ORDERED THIS, THE EVACUEES HADN'T HAD FOOD AND WATER FOR AT LEAST 3 DAYS DUE TO BREAKDOWNS ON MANY DIFFERENT GOVERNMENT LEVELS. How are people to survive? We all know that business and poverty will never go together in this country, but in the face of a natural disaster all lines should be placed to the side. People are stuck in the Super Dome with no electricity and backed up sewers. They are dying around each other. Others are in the convention center on a phantom order that aid and assistance await them. Both places are under insufferable conditions. Others are also stuck on the top of the I-10 overpass with alligators and raccoons traipsing in the night. What is it about America that doesn't understand survival? Why ask these people to be timid and ignore basic human will? Is it because most of them were black or is it because most of them were poor? Then there are heartening stories of a man hot wiring a bus, going around and picking stranded people up, driving them to safety and the police arrest him for stealing a bus. It is stories like these that, in other circumstances, would be stories of heroism. They would be stories of a community coming together in the face of a crisis. In this case, these stories are reduced to yet another crime statistic. Survival is ignored, themes of "banding together to overcome" are ignored and are instantly displaced by petty crime.
What is known is that even in the face of a natural disaster, the federal government will leave you stranded with no concern. And even if you are not black, don't you dare be poor and unable to leave your city. And let us not forget nor put it to the far recesses of our memory, that New Orleans has its "old world" feel that brings people from miles away because of these shamefully depressed areas of the city. The same depressed areas that are being blamed for not heeding federal and state warnings of evacutation. These are the people in the city that would be employed in the service industry of the city. Lest we forget that New Orleans gets the bulk of its money from conventions dumping money and ready-to-gamble US citizens at its doorstep. The service industry has to be at the top of the employment food chain. Where do you think the people who work there come from, the French Quarters? Right. But in the end, it doesn't matter. If any stroke of bad luck happens to you, the government on all levels are liable to blame you for not being able to follow orders and get out of the city. It only serves to redouble the already unreliable feeling amongst the African-American community. However, facts are facts. What happened is what happened and it can't be disputed. People were left to die with an afterthought of concern. For at least five days, human beings were left with no food and water. For at least five days people were promised aid that "was coming" but never seemed to arrive. What we all know is that what happened on day 6 and 7, is what should have happened on day 1 and 2 of this disaster. I have never lived in a country where I pay, not only state but federal taxes, an area is affected by a disaster and and the leader of the country can't help people in a timely fashion.
I know that Republicans believe in states rights and for that reason Bush may have wanted to allow the state to handle the problem. However, this was a major disaster and if assistance was never asked by the governor then there should have been someone to remind her how crazy she was for not asking for it. Then there should have been someone to make it clear to her that federal assistance was not only desired but necessary. On top of this, I know bush is an advocate of the business community, however, in an atmosphere of disaster, looting should be disregarded in the bigger face of rescue and recovery. In the end, businesses would write off most of their items because of the water damage and toxins that would imbue each item. Plus the looters will not be able to go far with these items. They are stuck in a toxic soup for which they will have to walk miles and miles and probably have to swim to leave. Even with both of these points, everything still pales in the face of rescue and recovery missions. In any case when the federal government has not done their job and the state government has not done its job, what right do they have to ask people to die silently? What right is it that they ask people not to feed themselves. What right is it that they have to tell the local law enforcement to shoot US CITIZENS. Is looting wrong, why yes it is? However, those of you who believe the thousands of people who did not get food and water for 5 days and lived in squalor (much worse then their existence on an everyday basis) due to governmental negligence are wrong for feeding themselves, you're on the wrong side of the issue. Never forget that. And never forget that humanity trumps possession. Throughout the months following Katrina, many people have made it clear that they don't agree with my assessment of the situation. For those of you who don't, I hope you are never in a position that you are incapable of getting out of and need assistance that comes 5 days after you need it. In that situation I fully expect each and every one of you to waste away. Don't survive. Die off from something as simple as food and water. Die off because you need an insulin shot. Die off because you need your medication. I fully expect each and every one of you to sit timidly amongst filth, waste and death and do nothing but wait for the help that is promised but might come 5 days later.
Now...onto the new issue...land.
On top of an already decrepit and retarded response, a panel under Mayor Ray Nagin is putting forth a proposal, requiring displaced victims prove their neighborhoods can be viable and worth rebuilding within a 4 month timeline. Their proposal indicates that even though some people who may want to rebuild their neighborhoods will have a say in proposing viability, some property will have to be seized by eminent domain. Not to mention, on a whole seperate issue, the Corps of Engineers will have to "buy" land appraised at post-Katrina prices in order to strengthen the levees. This fiasco is far from over. With every twist and turn, I get more and more tired of blatant rights being violated. I can't imagine how I would feel if I actually lived in New Orleans because if this is what the nation hears, who knows what is actually going on.
Thursday, February 24, 2005
Is it just me?
I am curious to know if anyone out there has thought about our economy. I guess you could consider me a graduate, or what sounds much better, a recent graduate and I am still frantically trying to find my place in the job market. I am hesitant to be loyal to companies because I watched Enron and the demise of accounting firms, who helped such scoundrels, in its wake. It is even more impossible to have gainful employment due to the disruption of the market. Those fired, layed off or pushed from their jobs who were older and more established are now taking the entry-level jobs from the new graduates. I don't see how anyone could miss these disparities. I and others in my generation are quite possibly looking at never having a traditional career or maybe my generation will be the generation that defines the new definition of "career." Due to the upheavals in recent years, will "career" be defined as "continuous job to job prospects," never settling into one career? Will we really fill out the "jack of all trades, master of none" saying not because we wouldn't have liked to master a career but because the opportunity never presented itself? Will we never settle into a career because by the time the opportunity presents itself we will be well into our mid to late thirties? Mid to late thirties would have been the hey-day of some of our parents career. At this age we might just be beginning our careers. This is a travesty. I have even heard from some well-read people that in some statistical data McDonald's grill cooks are considered manufacturing jobs in order to beef up the numbers. The Boy Scouts of America is in trouble for padding their membership roles. And some are saying they do this because their directors are under intense stress to get offices up and running. I mean really "Boy Scouts of America!" I feel as if we are living in the outfall of the 80's. Maybe we are returning to the 80's. Maybe the 90's were really the 80's revisited and never learned. Maybe we are going back. Either way what I am well aware of is my day-to-day struggle of job-hunting. I have two degrees and find myself consistently placed into the "overqualified" bin. I don't know if these jobs are looking for loyalty and in that way think I won't stay. Someone needs to discuss the "new environmental definition" of loyalty to human resources. I find it hard that a generation who has grown up seeing such job instability will ever find the loyalty of baby boomers. I mean seriously, the baby boomers are shaking in their boots trying to hold onto their jobs. They are just praying they can keep their jobs until they decide to retire. I find no loyalty in shaking in my boots. I don't see that a person who has less then a college education would find loyalty in this job market. Just because they don't have a college education doesn't mean they are stupid or that they feel like they are so beholden to a company that they would risk their retirement and life investments. Maybe someone can explain to me what their thoughts are on a somewhat "back-on-track" job market. I am only starting to express my frustrations.
Thursday, January 13, 2005
You can't afford it anyway
I haven't posted in a while but I thought I might lay down a few lines before the 13th expires. As of today, many frustrations have cropped up, passed and had to be physically thrown away. I am finding that the bull***t is getting harder and harder to deal with! I often feel like it is me, myself and I standing alone in a world of people who have no clue as to their identity. In the same breath I must ask if I am the one who is ultimately fooled. What is the use of foolish thoughts? I mean I live in a world of mediocre talent at best. It seems no one excels and therefore those who have the power look for no one who excels. This seems to be the constant circle of mediocrity. Absolute mediocrity. Doesn't anyone else see this but myself?! It is a shame when in today's time Alicia Keys is the symbol of a pianist and Ashley Simpson (probably spelled her name wrong) is a pop star. I don't mean to pick on these two but, they were the first two to pop in my mind. Not that Ashley is so wrong, it is just that her brand of talent is something that most of them have. How many more most we endure? Now as far as I am concerned, I don't listen to the radio so what people find interesting about them doesn't bother me. Other then the fact that whenever I turn on the radio they are shoved down my throat, no one is making me listen to them. But just for the sake of knowledge - these are the stars of the young world. I suppose those who are truly talented have never been able to catch the real break but now more then ever. How did we get so far away? Club rap is considered exclusively Hip Hop as if the golden days, the building blocks of Hip Hop are golden oldies - something to be dusted off and played every now and then. When did we get so far away from linear progression. Instead of a linear forward progression we seem to be going in hyper speed having completely jumped the channel. Category mistakes are the norm. We expect them from politics to recreation. There are WMD's!"/ "Oh! No there aren't" - "I know I'm on Saturday Night Live but my band messed up." /"Oh! It wasn't the band it was my throat, everyone has these problems!"(paraphrasing Ashley Simpson). When did it become second nature to never get it right?! When did it become second nature to pick style over substance? Sure, in the entertainment industry things like this have always been going on for some time but some say that art should imitate life. I don't know. Maybe it should be a balance. However now, life absolutely imitates art and popular art is based upon a few, seemingly wealthy people's thought on what life is. If you look around and your life is nothing like what you see on television. That's reality. That's life. Stop squeezing life into a glass box expecting the box not to break. Life dictates: "If you break it, you buy it." And You can't afford it anyway.
Monday, January 03, 2005
Paul Mooney @ WBLS
I just wanted to let everyone know that Paul Mooney will be on the morning show for WBLS. This is the same radio station in New York that Wendy Williams is on so it should be entertainment all day. I believe it started today 1/03/05. I am personally excited being that most of the comics I love ( Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, Dave Chappelle) and the shows I watched and watch if I am to include Chappelle's Show, he was a ghostwriter. So just letting all know that tidbit of information.
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