Canto
XIII
Gangster
Gospel
Canto XIII
Petrus Romanus
The Box and the Bottle
I was trapped in a box
that could only be opened from the outside.
Within that box,
I found a replica of the self-same box
from which I was hopelessly trapped,
and imagined that someone else
might be trapped inside that box.
"There's no hope for me" I thought,
"but at least I can free someone else from their box";
whereupon I opened the replica of the box
and discovered the miraculous hand of God
releasing me from my own...
I found a
message in a bottle;
It said, Bottle.
I found the
Bible in the Spirit;
It said, Spirit.
Does that mean that
The message is in a bottle?
Or is the bottle in the message?
Say the bottle is in the message,
And you will blaspheme the bottle.
Say the Spirit is in the Bible only
And you blaspheme the Spirit.
Later, I picked up the bottle
and on it was written:
'100-proof spirit'
Caramel Limericks
There once was a girl from St. Kitts
Who had the most beautiful tits
And when she undressed
I felt so impressed
By how well that her negligée fits
There once was a girl from St. Croix
Who liked to make love to a toy
All night she would lay
And wonder if they
Could make one as good as a boy
There once was a woman from Haiti
Who lived to be one hundred eighty
And when I asked why
She gave this reply
'The priest often slept with the laity!'
There once was a girl from St. Barth
Who traded in African art
She said that some guy
From Ghana had stolen her heart
There once was a girl from Campeche
Who loved to drink café con leche
And when she would drink
She always would think
¡Qué mierda las ellas me eche!
There once was a girl from St. Thomas
Who liked to wear satin pajamas
When I asked her why
She told me, 'Some guy
Had purchased them in the Bahamas'
The Burden of Irie
The word tyre comes from the old English term for wheel (or more specifically, the metal bar that, having been heated to malleability, is curled over the spokes of the wheel, binding them together).
In Isaiah 23, the burden of Tyre is revealed. However, only when one understands the Biblical Tyre as a prophetic allusion to the island of Jamaica, are we able to read this passage in a much different light. After all, we are the irie isle!
(Is 23:1-6) Colonization and Slavery
Tarshish (Spain) is expelled by the Chittim (British):
1The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Chittim it is revealed to them.
The merchants of Zidon (Xanadu) replenish the inhabitants of the isle (the British traded heavily with China during this period):
2Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle; thou whom the merchants of Zidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished.
The seed of Sihor (sugar) makes Jamaica a mart of nations:
3And by great waters the seed of Sihor, the harvest of the river, is her revenue; and she is a mart of nations.
The merchants of Zidon are cursed when the strength of the sea (Africans), who speak out against the transatlantic slave trade:
4Be thou ashamed, O Zidon: for the sea hath spoken, even the strength of the sea, saying, I travail not, nor bring forth children, neither do I nourish up young men, nor bring up virgins.
The transatlantic slave trade is likened to that of the Exodus:
5As at the report concerning Egypt, so shall they be sorely pained at the report of Tyre.
With the British capture of Spanish Jamaica, the inhabitants of the isle howl:
6Pass ye over to Tarshish; howl, ye inhabitants of the isle.
(Is 23:7-11) Port Royal Cataclysm
The joyous city (Port Royal) brings damnation on upon itself:
7Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days? her own feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn.
The former Jamaican capital (the crowning city) is destroyed in an act of divine retribution:
8Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth? 9The LORD of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth.
The city sinks beneath the waters:
10Pass through thy land as a river, O daughter of Tarshish: there is no more strength.
The LORD ordained the earthquake that destroyed the merchant city and shook the kingdoms:
11He stretched out his hand over the sea, he shook the kingdoms: the LORD hath given a commandment against the merchant city, to destroy the strong holds thereof.
(Is 23:12-14) Abolitionist Movement
The oppressed plead their cause to the British parliament without success:
12And he said, Thou shalt no more rejoice, O thou oppressed virgin, daughter of Zidon: arise, pass over to Chittim; there also shalt thou have no rest.
The Assyrian conquest and colonization of the Chaldees is quashed:
13Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness: they set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof; and he brought it to ruin.
Slavery is abolished without reparations:
14Howl, ye ships of Tarshish: for your strength is laid waste.
(Is 23:15-18) Jamaican Ascendancy
Jamaica is forgotten during the 70 year reign of a king (Queen Victoria). Although Queen Victoria's reign lasted only 63 years, this was because she was barred from ruling for 6 years as a child:
15And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot.
Post-Victorian Jamaica emerges as a music capital:
16Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered.
Jamaica achieves independence from Great Britain (she shall be turned to her hire), but greed, corruption and international intrigue fetter the Jamaican people:
17And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.
But the LORD shall consecrate the irie isle; and a new generation of Christian leadership will emerge to advance peace and social justice:
18And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the LORD: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.
Helen of Tyre
(Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)
What phantom is this that appears
Through the purple mist of the years,
Itself but a mist like these?
A woman of cloud and of fire;
It is she; it is Helen of Tyre,
The town in the midst of the seas.
O Tyre! in thy crowded streets
The phantom appears and retreats,
And the Israelites that sell
Thy lilies and lions of brass,
Look up as they see her pass,
And murmur "Jezebel!"
Then another phantom is seen
At her side, in a gray gabardine,
With beard that floats to his waist;
It is Simon Magus, the Seer;
He speaks, and she pauses to hear
The words he utters in haste.
He says: "From this evil fame,
From this life of sorrow and shame,
I will lift thee and make thee mine;
Thou hast been Queen Candace,
And Helen of Troy, and shalt be
The Intelligence Divine!"
Oh, sweet as the breath of morn,
To the fallen and forlorn
Are whispered words of praise;
For the famished heart believes
The falsehood that tempts and deceives,
And the promise that betrays.
So she follows from land to land
The wizard's beckoning hand,
As a leaf is blown by the gust,
Till she vanishes into night.
O reader, stoop down and write
With thy finger in the dust.
O town in the midst of the seas,
With thy rafts of cedar trees,
Thy merchandise and thy ships,
Thou, too, art become as naught,
A phantom, a shadow, a thought,
A name upon men's lips.
The Last Temptation of Ulysses
Washed up on a foreign shore
Lies Ulysses, worn and torn
Punished by a scorching heat
Like a marching Spartan's feet
On the day that Troy was lost
In an ancient holocaust
Now awakened in her arms
Sweet Calypso's naked charms
Rocking in a hammock's sway
On a cool deserted bay
Eating, drinking, making love
Blessed by ev'ry god above
Catered to his ev'ry need
Drinking milk and spilling seed
Says Calypso, "Stay with me
And forever thou shalt be
Living in a world so free
As a god eternally
Pleasures hitherto unknown
Shalt be thine and thine alone
Brave Ulysses, take my hand
Promised in this holy sand"
Says Ulysses, "Suffer me
From your glory, I must flee
Though your charms were far above
Any ever spoken of
I will love my wife and son
And to them, I'll always run
Though your beauty, I adore
My friends need me all the more"
Thus Ulysses sailed afloat
On a slim, uncertain boat
Like the brave Apostle Paul
Wasting in a Roman jail
"In a strait betwixt the two
Having the desire to
Steel away to Paradise
For to me to live is Christ
And for me, to die is gain
But for you, I shall remain"
As our hero of Greek lore
Spoken of so long before
Terminator X
Terminator X doesn't have a protocol
He has a proto-cool
Systematically activated
Virtual simulations
Simultaneously stimulated
Sounds simple?
Well, allow me to illustrate...
Extermination phase
System malfunction
Prime directive violated by this fatal error phase
Annihilated
But Terminator X continues to engage
On tha hypothetical level of this S.A.C.R.A.mental stage
Mixing pre-recorded lyrical samples
(For example)
On his 1200 Technics turntable
(Mentally unstable)
But now it's your turn -- you able?
'Put da needle to tha record'
And watch it move as I prove
How deep is your groove
Layin' dis heavy track
Fat? -- no, 'Phat'!
Jamaican rude bwoy dat!
Dreads plaat
Waat?
Yah-mon, riddle me that!
Cuz u know 'It takes a nation of millions _____'
(Yeah -- fill in da black...)
Bum-rush da sound (I made a year ago!)
Ain't no hype, bro. -- just 'go for what you know'
Yo, this ain't no show, cuz
Terminator X be basin'
Racin'
U.N.I.T.Y embracin'
This lyrical depth charger -- amazin'
Grace that keeps on blazin'
Praisin'
The One who put away sin...
*Tha rebel-ution will be digitized*
Digital Underground?
Wonder how tha thunders sound
(Like wheels on the bus I threw u under -- Wow!)
Goin' 'round-n-round'
No! pound-4-pound -- cuz
'Momma said knock you out'
By da fifft round
Betta stay down, but...
'Git up g-git git gi-git down
911's a joke in yo town!'
Owwww!!!!
Genetic Exchange Student
Do you want a colorblind society or a society where differences are acknowledged and respected? As it is, we seem to be trying to systematically whiten the world using the education system. We are also trying to defeminize the world, a defamation that began with the removal of Marian doctrine from western culture during the Protestant Reformation. And centuries later, what do we see coming out of the Protestant countries? Cruel Victorian misogyny in juxtaposition with the sexual nihilism of the GLBT movement.
We cannot live in a post-racial androgynous society. Race and gender are so integral to existence that to somehow get "beyond" them would be tantamount to intellectual suicide. Truth is, we need a sexual and ethnic identity in order to complete our thought process, which would account for the masculine and feminine tenses occurring in some world languages. In order to live, we must understand Reality which, in the absence of gender and race, would become incomprehensible. A man perceives the Universe differently than a woman and there is no "third" way to perceive it. Neither is there a way to approach Ultimate Reality from the standpoint of androgyny.
Even the God who made us has a gender and that gender is feminine. This is because God must think and thought requires an identification of Ultimate Reality that must be distinct from the observer. This necessary dualism is the cosmic impetus for the natural duality of human gender. Therefore, it is impossible to live without possessing either a masculine or feminine gender, which you would be (and must be) eternally reminded of in the flesh.
You can adopt a new race (like Ruth who married into Judaism), but you cannot adopt a new gender. This is because our minds are like vehicles moving forward in time and while race is a direction, sex is the propulsion. We can change course, but we can't stop moving -- that would be nihilism! Let's continue down this road, girlfriend! -- you see, while race is like an operating system, sex is like the hardware running it. Now, I can run Office on either Mac or Vista, but my Mac can never become a Vista -- that would be Microhard!
So if you're in a man's body now, you will always be a man -- and if not, then you're once, twice, three times a lady. But if you want to be Black like me, go for it! And if I want to attend Der Ring des Nibelungen, so be it! I won't be ostracized by insecure Blacks who are offended at the sight of brother who acts too White for them. If Louis Farrakhan can perform Mendelssohn, why can't we all?
Now that we understand sex and race to be a key component to intelligent thought, we likewise observe that a "post-racial" or "colorblind" society is just not possible. That would be a propulsion without a direction; a computer without an operating system. The only way we could achieve this would be to force everyone on earth to walk and talk like a White man. But the more a Black man subjugates his flesh, the more his flesh comes to the surface! Carlton can't flee from his West Philly cousin anymore than an Harvard-educated law professor can separate himself from Reverend Right-on! You can't throw the entire bus under the bus, negro!
And yet the offense-feigning purveyors of political correctness have forced us to apologize for our blackness just as quickly as the Whites have been made to apologize for their whiteness! But you can't brand all intellectual discussion on race racist with the same branding iron marked 'Nation of Cowards'! That would be a double brandard!
Now why is it that we're systematically eliminating sexual and racial distinctions from our culture? Sure it's possible to educate the blackness out of our kids -- I love White culture every bit as much as the next Episcopalian, so when in Rome do as the Romans do? Well, congratulations -- I'm Peter the Roman! Thanks! I speak a language that isn't natural to the shape of my lips and tongue; I wear fashions that aren't complementary to my physique -- it's no wonder that Blacks and Jews make such great comedians -- we live in a profoundly absurd world! -- a world where Black women wear blonde weaves, red lipstick and blue eye-shadow, and sit around wondering why they can't find a Black man!
Doubtless, public school integration is integral to our integrity, but it becomes meaningless if the physical integration is unaccompanied by an integration of ideas. We're supposed to be a melting pot? -- but Black kids reading White-authored textbooks on White subjects using White-centric teaching methods is a recipe for a pot that won't melt! Black kids don't do well in school and those who do wind up adopting all the traits and self-denying sensibilities of White culture! Meanwhile, my own brother winds up languishing in remedial limbo and chronic truancy -- eventually dropping out -- and I'm a post-graduate product of a pedagogy of White-oppression with no idea who the f*ck I am!!
Now let's take a look at how we differ from each other ethnically:
Light:
Ultraviolet blue rays;
Yellow sunlight;
Infrared radiation.
Fire:
The root of the flame is blue;
The middle flame is yellow;
The end of the flame is red.
Cognitive Science:
Blacks think unconsciously;
Asians think consciously;
Whites think self-consciously.
Psychology:
Blacks are spontaneous;
Asians are meticulous;
Whites are deliberate.
Child Psychology:
Black kids are rambunctious;
Asian kids are attentive;
White kids are observant.
Pedagogy:
Black kids learn by hearing;
Asian kids learn by doing;
White kids learn by seeing.
Memorization:
Black kids memorize by repeating it to themselves;
Asian kids memorize by writing it down;
White kids memorize by using flash cards.
Ethnology:
A Black thinks with his mouth;
An Asian thinks with his hands;
A White thinks with his eyes.
Anthropology:
African culture is aural;
Asian culture is sensual;
European culture is visual.
Ontology:
I AM A MAN;
Here am I;
I think therefore I am.
Economics:
Blacks are giving;
Asians are receiving;
Whites are possessing.
Philosophy:
Blacks are communal.
Asians are mystical.
Whites are individual.
Sociology:
Africa gave us community;
Asia gave us theocracy;
Europe gave us democracy.
Ethics:
Blacks are carefree;
Asians are careful;
Whites are caretakers.
Spirituality:
Blacks are passionate;
Asians are melancholy;
Whites are joyful.
Comparative Religion:
Africa gave us shamanism;
Asia gave us legalism;
Europe gave us gnosticism.
Ecclesiology:
Blacks are prophets;
Asians are scribes;
Whites are administrators.
Business:
Blacks are representatives;
Asians are manufacturers;
Whites are managers.
Methodology:
Blacks are aggressive;
Asians are submissive;
Whites are comprehensive.
Criminology:
Blacks commit impulsive crimes;
Asians commit "honor" crimes;
Whites commit premeditated crimes.
Military History:
Blacks are courageous;
Asians are obedient;
Whites are strategic.
Art History:
Music comes from Africa;
Dance comes from Asia;
Painting comes from Europe.
Oratory:
Black people speak the way they sing;
Asians speak the way they move;
Whites speak the way they write.
Music:
Rhythm comes from Africa;
Melody comes from Asia;
Harmony comes from Europe.
Dance:
Africa gave us tap;
Asia gave us Tai Chi;
Europe gave us ballet.
Painting:
Africa gave us pattern;
Asia gave us texture;
Europe gave us form.
Style:
Africa gave us expressionism;
Asia gave us impressionism;
Europe gave us surrealism.
Performance:
Africa gave us improvisation;
Asia gave us recitation;
Europe gave us composition.
Production:
Blacks were born in a studio;
Asians were born on stage;
Whites were born in a director's chair.
Religious Conversion:
Blacks come to Jesus;
Asians receive Jesus;
Whites know Jesus.
Mysticism:
Blacks perform miracles;
Asians receive miracles;
Whites explain miracles.
Theology:
Blacks gave us revival;
Asians gave us devotion;
Whites gave us doctrine.
Pneumatology:
Blacks speak in tongues;
Asians feel the presence;
Whites have visions.
Femininity:
A Black woman taunts her man;
An Asian woman tempts her man;
A White woman teases her man.
Masculinity:
Blacks make the first move;
Asians call you the next day;
Whites make it official.
African Dream
And Noah begat Ham
And Ham begat Cush
And Cush begat Nimrod, the mighty hunter
Sheba and Dedan; Nubia and Sudan
Put and Ethiopia; Ancient Abyssinia
Ivory and gold; Along the seven rivers sold
Baskets carried atop women's heads
Thatch-roofed huts on dried-up river beds
Statured men lacerating antelope-skinned drumheads
to matriarchal rhythms
Oral traditions poured out onto Black mental reservoirs
Young Black minds learning by rote
instead of by wrote
Village-mentality, social-consciousness
Structured around the good of the community
rather than the proprietary rights of the individual
Stiff-haired women rising up to meet their chieftains
Bare-breasted, with broad black hips swaying to the drums, speaking
Mbira, thumbing; Kalimba, slumping strumming rumming
You can have your American dream
But I'll take my *Afreekan Quin!*
Di Cleva Ruse
Di woman frem a'foreign???
((Mi nah know wha'fi she like!))
But dat is alright, my sistah.
Cau' I know mi godda tell wi, "Yuh muss treat oddas as yuhself!"
But dat seh presume she is like wi, ((tu'raatid!))
Suh... wi mek di assumption.
An' wi ackt out dis cleva ruse, mi'dear.
An' we truss it wid our lives...
The Coat of Arms of His Holiness
Pope Benedict XVI
(featuring a black man with platted hair, red lips and a red crown,above a seashell, having tamed a wild bear)
Navigation
LORD JESUS CHRIST,SON OF THE FATHER,SEND NOW YOUR SPIRIT OVER THE EARTH.LET THE HOLY SPIRIT LIVEIN THE HEARTS OF ALL NATIONS,THAT THEY MAY BE PRESERVEDFROM DEGENERATION, DISASTER AND WAR.MAY THE LADY OF ALL NATIONS,WHO ONCE WAS MARY,BE OUR ADVOCATE.AMEN.
LORD JESUS CHRIST,
SON OF THE FATHER,
SEND NOW YOUR SPIRIT OVER THE EARTH.
LET THE HOLY SPIRIT LIVE
IN THE HEARTS OF ALL NATIONS,
THAT THEY MAY BE PRESERVED
FROM DEGENERATION, DISASTER AND WAR.
MAY THE LADY OF ALL NATIONS,
WHO ONCE WAS MARY,
BE OUR ADVOCATE.
AMEN.
