12.14.2011

Columbia University Graduate. Two Times.


East Campus, Casa Phiota, Room 2, November 2000

Ay dios mio said the random intruder
Joann Joann in search of her line sister
Getting smoked out underneath
Scarface’s say hello to my little friend poster

Sitting comfy on futons with two mattresses
Ashtray full of clips
Incense box full of old sticks

Dusty TV/VCR combo passed on from Walt
Piggy bank half empty

Big L Big Picture 4 mic Source Review
Cellphone looking like remote control
JVC 6 CD changer surround sound
Panasonic Radio Discman

Desk overflowing with new poems
Like in the final analysis and dedication for bro

Announcement for the next open mic at the Nuyorican

Dogeared copy of Family Installments
Where great greats blew out brains with rusty pistola
Hanging on for 2 weeks before it’s over

Closet full of clothes too baggy for the future grown self
Still need room to grow echo from the laughter

Bump that computer 1 gig hard drive
Little memory skipping instrumentals from what we just blazed

Looking at the past shows how the future is made

Lil exclusive pad on Riverside Drive
In the shade watching the shadows shift
As the sunsets over Harlem

Would only step through Morningside
2 for $5 specials

Don’t let the demons catch you coming from 109th
Way before guzzling pints
Daydreaming gazing at sights
Overlooking the waterfall carved into a cradle
Of swan and duck pond

How quickly times move on

Moments frozen like steaming on 117th over both shoulders
J & R CD guy outside Tom’s for early albums

The library searching for the reasons
To keep breezing through bullshit behind empty smiles

Jet back uptown to understand the freestyle
Always comes with hidden costs

Every cough connects more to the cipher
Where after many frustrated nights
Declare in the mirror reflecting the world’s skyline
I am a writer!

How the smoke shapes the smile
Takes a while for an intoxicated degree to take effect

I found the owl in the alma mater wish I come rewind time
Like Bobbito on KCR in my tape deck