What?

Your time here is short and probably numbered in days.

You think you know.

You really do, don't you?

Have you seen it on the streets? The buildings and streetpoles will outlast you. Them train tracks were there when your grandaddy was a little munchkin. Him and all of your long dead relatives walked, sat-in and got their asses kicked every which way it could get kicked for you to have the opportunity to sit on your ass and read this rant with the greatest of ease.

What?

You thought you were supposed to just grow up, listen to pop records, emulate your favorite whatever, go to school, graduate, post your multiple degrees on your office wall, get a family and show up until they give you the retirement walk out of cubicle city?

What happened to our poets?
Our painters?
Writers?
Artiseans?
We ain't even got rain dancers no more...

Where's your drive and ambition?

How many H.R.'s will you use the internet to get up on?

So, you're voting in a few weeks, huh? You ain't even researched dude's voting record during his last stint... And he's the incumbent...

Just look, choose (he seems familiar) and punch

And you're tired this weekend because your energy was sucked out of that ass at work

When was the last time you did something for you... Or for her or him? Or for the kids?

Yeah, looking at that pile of mail over there really shows how free you really are.

So get free then, you bad, right?

Aw shit, did you just say you don't know how?

To hell with me, when are you going to do what you were put here to do? When are you going to lay down that tired-ass excuse and get out into the world and make change? And I ain't talking bout' that fifty you got at the gas station either.

Nice digs, nice ride, cool clothes and a fly-ass high def joint. You seem happy. No, wait... You seem complacent. Yeah, that shit is going to always be there for you.

Waiting.

Waiting for you to do the 'right thing' and come straight home so it can lull you with all the trappings the matrix could come up with.

Minus the new neon signs and the church that was outsourced to non-union workers being built, the neighborhood still looks the same except for those cats hanging on the bully, and those are your friend's kids... They ain't harmonizing to the soulful sounds of the Stylistics anymore.

Pac been dead for 10 years and they swear he Jesus.

Jesus was a martyr who hung with the thugs and hustlers, but can it save that kid's soul?

You got dinner for your kids from the drive-thru the other day, threw that junk on the table and went to your room and watched some TV. Did the homework get checked? Did you even ask about that mannish ass boy that tried to touch your little girl? Are they bullying your son again? Do they even understand that the original 64 proofs of the Pythagorean theorem are booty these days? Yeah, we still study that.

When was the last time y'all hung out on the stoop until 1am on a school night?

It's kids out there under the age of 25 that don't know what it feels like to walk thru the grass barefoot... And skip rocks. Never played Redlight/Greenlight 123, Four Corners, Piggy... Listening to 'cuss records' in the basement on the sneak, roadtripping to see the cousins.

Are we that comfortable a decade and a half or so after Claire Huxtable quit being our TV mom that we just sit?

And wait?

How many people personally do not like our current president, but cannot recall his veto record? How many bills did his administration put into effect and/or got them shut down? What have his hand selected drones authored to make change? You feel trapped by his politics, right? What part, which bill? When is it scheduled to go to the floor and get addressed? You see, back in the day on the playground when we were signifying about each other's mommas and thangs, I would take time to research that kid's family in order to properly get everything down... All the way to her mannerisms just to get that win. Have you spoken to/emailed/called/visited your Senator/Congressperson/PAC/Donated/Funded research on the bill to make it sway in your direction? Have you heard his last six addresses to the general public? You need a better strategy other than the impeach him thing. I'm not defending anyone, I just haven't seen a stance or heard any critic come up with an exit strategy. Name calling and complaining without proper planning means a failed execution in advance. He must be smarter than he looks... he's in there now and all you can do with the power to start a new party, reform an older one or utilize your right to form a militia is complain. How do you begin to replace a person in a position that what you deem as a mistake in the first place if you do not know the work record of said person and his allies? Is the six o'clock news enough to inform you to make an educated decision at the polls? How many other blogs have you read today when you could have sacrificed a little time and done some research? CSPAN has a very detailed site... And a viewing schedule. So does your representative on Capitol Hill. You should bookmark them.

It's always put right under our noses.

We used to move mountains with our will, words and actions.

Have you tithed to your church recently?

Do you have any savings to tithe to yourself in case that big-ass corporation you slave for decides to let you go? Have you even looked at the proxy report and made a decision on how much you were investing for FY 07?

That car payment is whooping your ass ain't it?

The next sit-down dinner you'll have with your family is in a few weeks. Ain't that some shit?

You still think it's your fault?

Prayer is just a general convo with the Creator. Try not to ask for too much. Keep someone else in mind this time will ya?