If

If
yesterday was today
and today, tomorrow
where ever you’d be
I would follow

by C-Note

©2018 Donald C-Note Hooker

Da Woman

I seen the sunrise the other day
and it was incredible
But not incredible as you
when I first laid my eyes on you
Then my soul had a quivah
my core a tighting
my eyes a blinking (cause I had to look twice)
What was before my eyes to see
was quite, quite the woman

by C-Note

©2018 Donald C-Note Hooker

Angelic Tempest

Angelic Tempest

I feel from grace
at least from Man’s
Not from His grace
I guess the plan
The prism
from prison

Is birds don’t fly
Not jailbirds
there’s no wind
beneath their wings
But infused with spirit
when someone saw my worth
To be more
than a dirt of Earth

You were the wind
beneath my wings
Now my imagination soars
with greater possibilities
That my life could give meaning
to the world

by C-Note

©2018Donald “C-Note” Hooker

Out of Time and Out of Words

Winter’s cold
or evening night
fireplace warmth
candlelight
Bearskin rug
the meeting place
out of time
and out of words

by C-Note

©2018 Donald “C-Note” Hooker

Tender Caresses

Tender caresses
a cross your face
back handed fingers
travelled with grace
a wisp of your hair
fell out of place
clasp of my fingers
leans to embrace
essence of our eyes
the meeting place
soulful connections
in outter space
motions of kisses
a lipstick trace
from tender caresses
across my face

by C-Note

©2018 Donald “C-Note” Hooker

Zoo Loo’s Don’t You Run

Zoo Loo’s

Four Nuc#les & A Thumb

You want some

Come get some

Here I come don’t you run

I’mma Zoo Loo!

Four Nuc#les & A Thumb

Real Soldiers never run

Modern day slavery

Still got chains on me

Tell me I’m free

Yet you still wanna lie to me

It’s plain to see

all the lies you keep telling me

I’m no lame

I was a King before a slave

Look into His•story (History)

It’s still being done to me

did all you could to me

Murdered Blac# Families

Say you’re not my enemy

Wanna be a friend to me

Hide my History

and made it what you want it to be

Five Hundred years

Eyes full of tears

Showin no fears

Tha revolution is here

Zoo Loo’s

Four Nuc#les & A Thumb

You want some

Come get some

Here I come don’t you run

I’mma Zoo Loo!

Four Nuc#les & A Thumb

Real Soliders never run

Tha law’s made against me

You broke before me

The taken of a land

with tha stricken of your hands

Why am I not free

Like I’m supposed to be

A blac# man in a land

that never gave a damn

Sisters and brothers dissing one another

No respect

Send
See
Revolutions!

Poison our communities

Taken opportunities

Playing make believe we’re in the land of the free

My wife at home

with my children all alone

Never knowin

if they’re father ever coming home

Lost without me

Now a broken family

Children fu#ked growing up

And now the blame is on me!

Zoo Loo’s

Four Nuc#les & A Thumb

You want some

Come get some

Here I come don’t you run

I’mma Zoo Loo!

Four Nuc#les & A Thumb

Real Soliders never run

Tha prison population proves he’s a racist

Take a look at tha crook

who makes a living off me

His crimes justified

while I’m doin time

For the laws that he broke

when he wrote

what he spoke

The taking of a country

that was once free

Give to all

by God

in one unity

Why am I here in a cage

full of rage

Turn tha page

and you see nothing but reality

Zoo Loo’s

Four Nuc#les & A Thumb

You want some

Come get some

Here I come don’t you run

I’mma Zoo Loo!

Four Nuc#les & A Thumb

Real Soliders never run

by Fred Smith aka Rabbitt Loeco

Goodness In Virtue Everyday (Give)

When you were born God gave you the gift of life. Then you were given nourishment and clothes in able to grow. You were given the opportunity to live life as you see fit. Given the strength to make it through ups and downs. Given the chance to make mistakes and the fortune to make it out. You were given breath, a past, a present, and an idea of hope for a future. You were given choices whether good or bad. You were given a chance to laugh, to cry, to play, to learn, to have experiences. All of these things you were given for nothing more than the love of God. You did not earn it. You did not ask for it but it was given. Life is to give and to give is life. You can’t not give without love and you cannot love without giving. What you give shall be returned. You will be given things you do not deserve. Everything you got in life will be given to someone else when you die. You cannot receive without being given.

The question becomes: Do I give to get or do I get when I give?

Jesus gave his life for the sins of men.

Muhammad gave his vision which produced the Koran.

Buddha gave us a way to be enlightened.

War gave us hope for peace.

Give of your SELF and your SELF will be given!

by Dar`cy Bolton

The World’s Greatest Threat: Being Black With Self-Respect

They never likeded my swag
cause it was rooted in gang culture
cause out here in L.A.
WE DON’T PLAY.
Nineteen Sixty-Five
ain’t never died
year of the Watts Riots
cause thirty years later
Nineteen Ninety-Two
We kicked off some shit too
year of the L.A. riots
But who really brought it your way
N-Double-U-A
You know what dem Niggas had to say
about dem cops
Police brutality had to stop
But that was before Black Lives Matter
and that shit came from the Town
Oak Land
Where Huey P Newton was the Spokes Man
for the Black Panthers
and its Organization for Community Defense
you see it all makes sense
Now
that video recorders dun came around
But it didn’t to Rodney King’s jurors
who saw his Black ass take a beat down
from six cops standing around
Naw
six cops actively participating
in the demise of an uppity ass negro
cause who he think he was
that he can get away with running from the fuzz
It only took a dahz
of whites
to say
Hell No! To Black Liberation
if that shit didn’t disturb your sleep
Why are you surprised of white criticism
when Beyonce speak
of Female Black Liberation
so join Her Formation
But again this ain’t nothing new
in the Red White and Blue
maybe because whites refuse to have
that conversation
about Nationhood reconciliation
don’t talk about chipin in dem funds
for reparations
They can for the First Naytion
and American Japanese
but when it comes to Black folks
we only get sympathies
from overseas
Because whites don’t wanna
do nothing about changin
the situation
about Black acclimation
into fabric Americana
wit your dirty lies
about apple pies
and second amendment aggrandization
Cause when was there ever a time
we could do
what we wanted to do
as a Black man or woman
legally armed
with a gun in our hand

Change California law
when Huey went to the State capitol
opened and carried
Killed Philando Castillo
in Minnesota
as a illegally armed
Black motorist
Standing on her own property
as a licensed gun owning Black woman
Michigan would rather imprison
a pregnant Swatu Salam Ra for two years
than let her use
their “Stand your ground” law
Due take notice
these were all liberal States
It’s like fake news
in prison blues
that’s why my pants sag
and my Blue Rag hangs low
I’m all that’s negative
bet believe
If I didn’t make myself that way
they would have
wit their lies and alibis
targeting

A great wrong was done to
you my Black children
A great wrong was done to you
my Black child
A suspicion has been casted upon you
it’s called revenge
Revenge
for the wrong done to you
Revenge
for the wrong done
by hands pure as the white of snow
They just don’t know
when you will recomeuppance
You’re under suspicion
My children
My child
Just look into their eyes and you’ll see
Dis is why me brudda
Dis is why mee sistah
Dis is why mee children
you’re under suspicion
What y’all brewing in da kitchen?
We know it gots to be a special stew
full of wicked concoctions
each with our signed I.O.U.
CAUSE YOUR God is dat Voodoo
so we know He’s stirring dat stew
so we don’t want nothing from you Black America
cause we know you’re itchin
to get us in your kitchen
to serve us this brew
and watch it see
do what it do

So Black man whoa
So Black woman whoa
and that’s why you’re always remain
a threat
Da Black man or woman, with self-respect
So Black man whoa
So Black woman whoa
and that’s why you’re always remain
a threat
Da Black man or woman with self-respect

By Donald “C-Note” Hooker

Editor’s Note: To For more epic poems by this poet, check out: THE CRIMINALIZATION OF OUR AMERICAN CIVILIZATION (This Is Not A Manifesto)
STRADIVARIUS: Play Her Like
It Must End! (BLACK FEMALE BOYCOTTS AGAINST BLACK MEN IN THE PEN)

Here are audio links:
The Criminalization of our American Civilization (This Is Not A Manifesto)
STRADIVARIUS: Play Her Like
It Must End!: BLACK FEMALE BOYCOTTS AGAINST BLACK MEN IN THE PEN

The Ebony Mystique

Not borne
from fake hair
and fake tits
It’s dark hue
is as true
as make-up
is fake
All the ladies
want to be you
You can’t see that?
Golden knights
in tight
mini skirts
Like psychic menstruals
untold
unfold
the true story
Ebony Eyes
Like true lies
a confession
obsession
a miss
a curse
enough is enough
positive
a negative
a brush of God
a gush of Lust
a gris
a cuss
a muss
unearth
the tantalizing view
of you
darkly hued
rich
in Ebony glow
let it flow
the skin you in
a cue
a curse
a burst
of Spring
that radiates from you
nobody gets to view
that that is true
the Ebony hue
in you

by C-Note

Copyright 2018 Donald “C-Note” Hooker
Model: Mirembe Priscilla

Trapped inside a pill

Trying to figure out this feeling?
This feeling is faulty and weakening
why can’t they understand?
Tell me can you understand how it feels
to be caged inside a pill?
It’s like I’m in a comatose state
I can hear you, but I give no reaction
It’s like I’m running out of time
and that’s no lie…
Tell me what’s the problem with a child running wild
but you ridicule us
cuz we can’t stay focused

See it’s a difficult task
concentrating in class
and if you laugh
shit we just might Act a Fool in class
Please I ask that you pay attention
hyperactivity without an ounce of impulse control most of us are cast to The Wind
and labeled a problem child
And please you should never call us stupid
and if you do we won’t hesitate to disrespect you
and throw some blows
just to let you know
and that was never our intentions
Now we’re forced to take a pill
That’s a contradiction
don’t shed a tear for us
cuz we really not happy here
that is not to our advantage
steady telling us it’s needed
So we’re confine to this pill….
Here’s my introduction
wasn’t well born
cause my father didn’t raise me
too busy introducing Mama to crack
It really went down like that
Sneered at behind behind my back in my teenage years
They say my intelligence low
self-esteem was broken
and that led to feelings of inadequacy
Shame and low self worth
See I rather run like super Sonic
the Hedgehog
See I was faster then most
I wish I could have told them that rest is for the weary
Big Mama kept me close
cause she sensed I was dreary
See in this disheartening state
let me be frank
it was hard for me to cope
I felt helpless
and most times like a joke
So tell me how could there be peace?
When this Ritalin wearing down
and I can finally stand on my own
I’m like catch me if you can
like Speedy Gonzalez
How can I remain in the depths of solitude
of being trapped inside a pill.

Dedicated to kids affected by ADHD, ADD and autism.

by Darryl Burnside