i did it for my dawgz

Veinte Seis

Whole bunch of homies going to rehab

For poor choices they made when they were younger

Can’t really ignore the hunger

Just becomes a dull empty sensation

So much temptation surrounded by negativity

From the moment you walk to the store

What is the core of your origins

Did you have a rocky beginning

Was the middle so tumultuous

You could never recover

How much are you trying to discover

Would you even search the public library

For informational handouts

That might push you in the right direction

Don’t deal with perception

Engage with the realness never shown

On the media with makeup shine

Refine how you define peace of mind

Paradise should never be based on turbulence

Within puddles in potholes

You will seldom find rainbows of pots of gold

There is a hold on your account

Due to late fees

That have suspended your borrowing privileges

So you will never grab anything on credit

So much weight on the arm starting to be dislocated

Mental so crooked needs to be straightened

who knows?

Quien Sabe?

How much swag

Can you squeeze

Into your flee fitted?

How far can you

Pull the hoody

Over your crimson eyes

So you can keep

Breathing chronic air?

How loud

Will your quiet smoke be?

What ghosts

Do you carry

In your baggy jeans?

When does the grind

Become exhausting?

Where do you go

To release your screams

To the cloudy skies?

Why does the degree

Of difficulty turn up

As you switch the temperature?

Who sits

On the couch

Of your corazon’s closet?

How bright

Are the thoughts

Of your dark brain?

Why do you

Camouflage so easily

With the shadows?

Why does

Your small talk

Have large consequences?

When will

The monotonous GroundHog Day

In the glorious ghetto

Ever end?

What will be

The sale price

Of your brand new life

Customized

With no fuckery

For the future?

coqui loco

Bronx Coqui

sings from rooftops to be recognized anonymously

inhales toxic chronic air making voice raspy

jumps from puddle to puddle looking for lilypads

makes wishes on dandelions to transport

him back to island oasis paradises

hears faint bongos through the barrios

screams with the loneliness of his displacement

wants to remix caribbean cuisine

like jerk mofongo or curry pernil

has front row seats for the parade

that reminds him of la perla he will never see

visits las bodegas in the afternoon

for a pickmeup cafecito con leche

takes express rides uptown on gypsy cabs

to transfer to the crosstown bus

Orchard Beach man made sand

distant memories of Ocean Park

landed on soft concrete messing

with shock absorbtion in Kermit's knees

comes from long lines of boricuas

who left behind madre tierra for concrete jungla

like Burgos Millan Casillas Rodriguez

has all the Morales he needs

to ribbit his way up mean streets

features, features

i'm gonna be rocking @columbia university on october 18th.

I'm gonna be featuring @capicu at lp & harmony on october 27th.

should be super illmatic. looking forward to it.

holla if you still living.

manejando coolly

Failure to signal

I

means your fellow drivers don't know your next moves

how difficult is it to get in the groove

unoffensive isolation to encourage inspiration

so many wonder why is the project waiting

for you to build up enough courage currency

to believe how broken you've become

for suffering to simmer below surface

until your story is sung loudly not

muffled jumbled spoken illegibly

stuttering over what you just scribbled

given all the answers but can't solve

your own enigmatic riddle

all you want for a lonely birthday

are times frozen never to thaw

let's stay this age forever

rerun episodes in preparation for a shaky future

absolute anonymity until

your intriguing mug stands out in a fashionable crowd

all you need is another comrade to complete your coup

revolution starts when the reflection shifts

perception dismisses assumption

maximize the utility of your malfunction

you don't work

dreams outta order

reality will stay exact same

who else but yourself can you blame?

II

might be tropical pineapple

always have to pack a hoody in case it get chilly

for real goosebumps on skin in paleface

got those white ghosts on ashy palms

throw the powder in the sky for all the fiends

to feel your fresh essence

get a whiff of this musk underarms beneath overpass

why lie? signs posted next to proverbs

proactively work the sweat out of perm

shaking shoulders so proud to be a papa

or tio dancing crazy in a party with all eyes on you

strobe lighting stimulating cortex

developing at speed of stoplights and potholes

soothing you to sleep gracefully finally

pat bottom to let you play for a while

sleep is not in the plans

need to absorb streetlights after sundown

the city will forever shine

marvelously from down bottom

can't be a half gangsta where they growl

at you from the gutter

goons shoot own brother to show love

after they kill you

they will salute then hug you