what's up charley?
Yeah, I need to feel yall wasn't feeling that
y'all didn't feel like this was a competition,
what?
Okay, well I ashati aka sheer coco and tonight,
I am your poetry emotion pose for the fourth installment
of six poets that's going to be going head to head to go
to the next round and ultimately we crown the poetry emotion winner,
y'all with that, y'all with that, all right, o
kay, okay, I got my little chichi right here.
All right, so I want
to also let y'all know that this is being brought to you by Queen City Awards,
if you don't follow them, make sure you follow them, yes,
created 19 years ago, okay, 19 years ago by the man with the plan right here,
Kevin Glob, all right, and so it was...
created to give artists the recognition that they need and deserve and this
competition is no different from doing just that so we going to lock in and
y'all y'all ready to turn up yeah all right all right i'm going to be checking
in with y'all periodically okay cuz need that energy to stay high okay okay
so are y'all ready to meet your competitors yeah okay cuz i'm ready i'm ready
now um dj can you drop that uh coming to the stage for the poets or all right
and y'all can make y'all way up now cuz we going to do some
intros
right i can do
no music up
All right, so our poets are up here, but before we get to know them,
let's see who is going to be judging them.
All right, so first we have poet named Superman,
you stand up, let the people see you, let the people see who this going to be judging,
yeah, FYI, he hosts one of the longest.
running open mikes in charlotte call release therapy so y'all need to tap
in with him yeah oh our second uh judge is boss lady
jay yes also the
only woman ever have won poetry emotion competition
okay all right all right and our our final judge,
taniisha, the the costa,
yes, who's also an educator, and funny enough,
the 30% that you know you guys are participating in,
that went to her school to support the young artists at that school,
yes, yes, okay,
so these judges will be judging the competitors
competitors up here on stage performance,
energy and word play, all right, so keep that in mind, because also you as a crowd,
you see the QR codes on your table, you play a role in this voting thing too,
so we're going to have a crowd vote also at the end,
and your vote will go to the one that you feel is the best,
and that person will receive a frank expression a feature,
all right, so basically you're voting for who you were paying.
seat all right, all right?
okay, all right, so with that being said,
the artists are going to come up one by one from left to right,
and they're going to give you their name, where they're from,
uh, one word that describes their poetry style,
and yeah, let's rock out, hello, hello, hey, what's going on everybody,
I'm Derek Lee, originally from Jacksonville, Florida, but North Carolina,
been home for about the past seven years and one word to describe my poretry style,
i say storyteller,
hey y'all, hey!
i said y'all, but i'm really from up top, but my name is casia,
i'm from brooklyn, new york, and he said two-part words, so me too,
thought process, how y'all doing?
uh, i am swave the poet, i'm from fairville no
rth carolina, um, yeah, two sit in the house,
and uh, one word to describe my poetry would probably be introspective.
How's everybody doing tonight?
So my name is K Muse, I'm the stylish woman of words,
um, I'm originally from Lexington, North Carolina, and if I had to describe my poetry,
I would say unorthodox.
How y'all doing tonight? I go by Mr. Table for one, I'm from Philly.
and one word to describe my poetry would
be narrative,
okay words okay,
all right, so I'm glad now you got to meet your poets who are
going to be gracing the stage one by one to give you a show
cuz it's gonna be a show tonight um and you guys could
gracefully.
Okay, sidebar, if you ever want to watch this all over again and be like,
oh, I missed that, that went over my head,
you can watch it on the connected tv app on your roku or fire tv,
did yall, no, yeah,
so all of this is going to be filmed and you can watch it at your own time,
your own leisure, get get it rewind as much as you want to on the connected tv app,
all right,
all right, so we're going to get straight into
it with our first poet, y'all ready to get the...
show started cuuse i'm ready, i'm ready to see a battle,
mean i i don't know y'all y'all don't sound like y'all ready,
are y'all ready for a battle?
oh okay, that's much better. all right, so your first competitor coming to the stage, mr.
table for one.
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, I go by Mr.
Table for one, and tonight I want to take you a journey through self.
Before we get started, I ask everybody, close your eyes,
take a deep breath, good.
All right, follow me, had to close my eyes and put my hands down,
the sensations resting in my pulse are ficticious,
ways of progress undone, hence my captivity, tears keep my cage clean,
my surroundings remain filthy, pride coming to
my defense and yet they claim I wear a mask,
accused the being in my thoughts, my neglect of the moment is common,
accused of throwing tantrims like a child, my identity.
remains a mystery, i swear my way is the best way,
willing to burn the whole world down, the sky changes colors to my intentions.
the fire has whispered to me that i am alone,
reluctant to be in the moment, too obsessed with the lines connecting,
my hands resting on the shovel, craving a release that is permanent,
pleasure spectates because she knows my resolved,
may every ounce of the person i show them fade in the dirt, all that's left for me.
here is a release,
part one before i start
digging,
to be reminded hurts, stubborn to the core, reluctant to breathe and relief,
mindful of what must be accepted, cherishing the very flaws that hinder me,
nightmares fuming in my psychee of what will bury me,
alive and mute deep under my flesh i can feel love wrestling with the hate.
and my heart lays the burden of my secrets,
angles of self water down for consumption, i question my own safety,
pondering whether the moment serves me, i missed the clarity,
whenever i have the courage to, i close my eyes and then the spark,
worries whist away, my core is flushed out, my mind is clear,
here we are, myself and i at the mountain time, dream no longer deferred,
clarity has become my nature, once more, shift takes place,
flame goes out, i'm awake again,
i was so close this time, chasing this has become my silent pain, the moments pass and...
"my fear is not to lose myself, but to lose them,
those who cheer for me, those who love me, the way they pray for me.
how was this for me in this lifetime?
such a sensation to know you are lost, to be reminded hurts,
and yet push, for now dig, whenever my shovel calls me human, my hands cramp up,
i close my eyes and then the pulse,
colors illuminate in the darkness, really at my fingertips,
bursting into a realm i was not raised in, the frequency feels like home,
smile releases me into praise, i am god,
i am my adversary, who dares to trouble me, who else is there to bless me,
he is i and i am him, then the alarm cracks, my levitation is placed on hold,
lazily and silently i prepare myself for the pain,
reminded i am lost again, nowhere to pick.
up the shovel mocks me, nobody to reflect with,
calls from those i love become my remedy out of reach,
the whole has gone deeper, the fear still sits within my spirit,
until i close my eyes again, i am lost,
being reminded hurts, rest assure i am closer to being found,
he who is found is under the dirt, part two, digging.
"hello friend, I must admit I am content with finding you here,
the cult of disappointment did not serve you well,
beyond what I can tell, the chill resting on your face, it can't be replaced,
I dare to ponder the assumptions that put you here,
I knew you well, your romance with dysfunction,
your commitment to the lie, how I wish I could have saved you,
my friend, the death is swimming in your eyes, asking you to keep them open is infectious.
i can feel myself jumping in his grave, seeing you makes me restless.
i see the way they saw me.
beginner's mind and untrained hand reminded of who we were,
how the split of our desires could no longer stand,
even to your final breath we can no longer concurr.
looking for the words that capture our connection,
a prisoner of your perception, a slave to your voice.
every time let you drive, collision was the...
only choice, abundance flooded our guilt,
rushes from our mistakes fueled our endeavors, the names we took,
our persuasions were never clever,
running like children to every ounce of aggression, we drank in unison,
we stumbled with succession, and i love you more than you ever know,
and despite your time being over to the world, i will put on the show, goodbye friend.
part three, the friend in the dirt, ladies and gentlemen, my name is Mr.
Table for one and tonight you got to experience Shadow Talk,
section of my series sometime often, follow it on TikTok and Instagram at sometime often,
have a good evening,
all right, y'all make some noise for Mr.
Table for what?
All right, all right, so I got a question, who likes to laugh?
Yeah, we like to laugh, we like to laugh, all right, yeah, yeah,
all right, I got a serious question, all right,
is it deal breaker if the person you're dating has a weird laugh,
it is, was weird, they said,
I don't, like, like, no, do it, that's a deal.
Okay, okay, well y'all in for a treat then, because next week Thursday,
like a week from today, June 5th, we got connected to comedy,
all right, and now listen, bring your date, cuz this is how you going to find out right,
if they got that weird laugh or not, all right, okay, cuz I,
I laugh like a car trying to start up,
so it's, but you're going to have to love me for who I am.
You're going to have to love me for who I am,
one more time, you're going to have to love me,
that's crazy, my husband will never, all right,
all right, so y'all ready for your next competitor,
yeah, nah, are y'all ready for your next competitor, what's up here?
Hi, we're coming to the stage.
K Muse,
the styler.
how you doing boss lady, how's everybody doing tonight?
All right, so I only got 10 minutes, so I'm going to give it to you real quick.
I'm going to take you through three transitions, right?
We're going to go through a mental conception,
then I'm going to take you through my vulnerability in terms of emotion,
and then we're going to end with something sensual, is that okay?
All right, this first poem is entitled the comb before the storm.
Strike me as bold as I articulate my lifeless soul, spilling out like puddles.
of discourse,
spilling out like puddles of discourse, lost in my conception,
wanting more,
don't tread like the shepherd with no sheep,
lack of discipline seems to carry me away
from understanding what's really inside of me,
don't fake it, loss and the bellows of my archives,
i see vulnerability escaping my archives,
comparison agitates my outer core, unable to justify my assumptions,
making me the ass i often kiss, reality is real,
reality is bliss, reality is the formality.
of my internal mortality, so get lost in my matrix,
now lost in this chaotic abys,
tell me, do you notice my negligence?
let me run that back, lost in the chaotic of this, tell me,
do you notice my negligence, leaving my soul life?
no heartbeat and no reverence,
this next poem is transitioning you into my emotional vulnerability,
spoken word abstract, something like that art, mean i make the picture makes sense to me,
it's beserk inside my head how somebody could trample over
something so precious like the diamond in the rough you'll see,
listen, let me polish off that gem, let me tell you how i feel.
buse ain't like them, don't compare me to your past cuz baby,
i'm about your future and your present,
so let me understand and respect your fucking essence,
damn i know you chilling and you vobing and you thinking that i'm
robing just to get between your thoughts and i know shit don't even make sense,
two fives don't make 10, mean sometimes it do complicated,
yeah me and you it's like that calculus that formulation integrals,
i'm looking at you like that simple sin and i'm
already to to commit that thing and repent again,
repent again, repent again and tell the god above all of us that
i would love to be with you forever and i don't want to have no trust issues,
but baby i'm fucked up inside so i know i can't hurt you,
hurt people, hurt people, that shit is real,
i don't got no love baby cuz i can't feel, people don't shut me on and that shit is real,
i got a damage heart but baby still i want to feel revive
me and do and do time revive me,
revive me, listen, it's so chaotic in my brain, shit i can't even explain a thing,
mean i'm trying to thumb through the pages and let you understand how
i feel when i'm down in my depths and baby girl the world is stepping on my neck,
feel like i can't breathe shit rest in peace,
i don't want to say the dumb shit to make you leave me,
but baby can you stand me, mean after the honeymoon face can you look?
get me the same way, can i make your stomach curl?
can i make your butterflies float in the sky?
shit once or twice mean i fucked around for two years but i just wasted time cuz
the itches ain't really love me they wasn't for me and i don't mean to call them
itches but you know i'm enraged when i think about them days that i gave all
my love and they took that shit away so now i'm looking at you for who you are your
presence and your essence baby girl you got
to know that i'm down with you and i can tell you
you like i'm session cuz b i'm like the cookie
monster.
This last form has a actual beat that goes to it,
but I can't play a beat some dopella, but I do have a question for you guys,
did you know in order for the soul to be nourished it needs to be fed right?
I didn't hear you right, so we on the same page, still follow me.
so with this next poem, I need you to do two things for me,
I need you to look me in my face while I'm talking to you, and the second thing,
I need you to follow these simple instructions if you will, close your eyes,
listen as our souls start to harmonize, wait for it,
now open your eyes, let me be consumed by your vitality.
me unravel your banish to heal,
i feel as you feel because all of you was
a serving of abundance and you are
my indulgence,
starvation left me deprived, heart wounded needing to be revived,
allow me your spirit and witness me alive,
baby, don't question why, because
All of you is a servant of abundance and you are
my indulgence,
stay with me baby, meaningless inquiries, sound for fictional stories,
trust me baby, I've had my share of falsified glories,
and I'm in need of an awakening, and every time I'm inside I feel your inner.
earthquaking it traces of that lsd found deep bingo stream
not the drug but similar to why cuz i'm injecting all the love and that stability
and discipline inside of you because
all of you was a servant of abundance and you are my indulgence here
i said
they say too much can cause an overdose,
well i've already brown my wings and learn the act of how to float,
are you waiting your heaven,
i said i am waiting your heaven,
reparation is for the past to counts and i'm just
here to pay my dues because all of you is a servant of a b'.
and you are my indulgence, this is the breakdown, listen,
need you to come here,
all of you is a servant of abundance, and you are my indulgence right there,
don't stop, right there,
all of you is a service of abundance and you right there,
my indulgence.
close your eyes, listen as our souls start to harmonize,
i appreciate you guys,
but the silence,
okay girl, i know that's right, all right, so make some notes.
Toys for swab the
puvlees
I don't mean to bother you I just want to get you to pause and
slow your walk so maybe we can talk and I'll try to tr just
trying to find out who you are I don't mean to
All right, I need to call in response, can we do this real quick?
I'm gonna say who going to be the king, and y'all gna say if it ain't swave.
All right, y'all ready to practice, who going to be the king?
who going to be the king?
see this poetry shit is like the donult game,
everybody want to do it and they all shooting with no aim got a pencil full of leg.
all barking no flame and they aiming at my foundation like ain't put bricks into this
like i wasn't the gazel in the woods that came to the jungle and learned how to rumble
now i'm the lion stop me when i'm lying these those hip hop roof that i started denying
i'm like coke in the 80's i'm going to have y'all consuming lines to your body started
denying i said i'll put bricks into this the ogs put up gates and thought i was going
to stop but it just made me any go because my desire to go higher always going to
be larger than your ego,
you say you the king pin, but your dope step don't no toothing what you thinking,
real poets let it cook, let it simmer, let that th sink in,
i said i put bricks into this, i love the streets before i love stanzas,
so they made it a standard to make me stand the outside this industry,
this industry y'all call poetry,
but this poetry industry ain't shit without me cuz who won't be the king?
that ain't even a phone y'all i just had to warm up my voice for real because
i've been sick as hell so had to see what my voice was going to give me all
right all right so i'mma drive the car
but y'all can control the gps that's cool all right so we got four
destinations we can only go to two cuz i only got 10 minutes all right so
we can go to my homie avenue we can go to toxic boulevard i love
we can go to black man privilege lane right and then i can take y'all to the
mall and we can win those shots okay so we definitely going to toxic lane
that's cool all right all right so we either going to myhomie avenue i'mma
take y'all to the mall we can window shop or we can go to blackman privilege
avenue
All right, we going to go there
first,
see I'm praying for me,
I'm praying for peace, no more us, just me in this next chapter,
but what if I don't know how to write this next chapter,
see this next chapter is titled alone.
by myself mental health, hell's got a lot of different names and they all mean the same,
it means in this chapter is time to heal these open wounds that keep going to the
liquor store to buy bandages for and lord it can be costly trying to hide all these
scars and need repair and you scared that eventually even the people that love you
will judge you cuuse of all these scarss and that's the scary part you got to learn
how to operate how to stitch back the pieces out of don't missing skin cuz it's been
so many kids dug in and eventually you begin to become known without nov cane and
rule of thumb is all black men have to feel this way describe a black man every drug
besides human love and if hilan was in relation to height a black man can start out
at 2'3 and grow to be f4 and still would be adored cuz he's not six foot and usually
the only time we make it is six feet is when it's under and it makes me wonder is
it hard to love a black man
is it hard to handle his constant night terrors cuz he scattered in
a motherfucker to walk outside cause a person that look just like him could take his life,
a person in all white could take his life,
the men and blue what they supposed to do protect them,
but hell not they take his life too,
and it doesn't help that he's born with a target on his back
because his soul purpose is to protect everybody but himself,
and then with his detrimental to his mental health, guess what happens,
a person in a lab code takes his life.
then when he's trying to get it together, guess what he gets told,
everything he isn't doing right, I guess it's hard to love a black man,
you'll wake up every day trying to do better and better and
better till you can't even recognize the letters in your
name because they've been rearranged to spell something you are not,
you'll wake up and it'd be something like jake because you was
trying to be a good neighbor to the white man and you are buried
all of your problems trying to be better to your wife man, but when you do...
your existance may remain alive but internally you die man,
guess it ain't no love in this world for a black man,
and they taught you, they taught you that money was what you should chase,
well mental health has always been a true wealth,
guess it's time to look in the mirror and love yourself,
black man.
All right, y'all still in the car,
y'all feel safe for me, all right, just making sure what I'm saying.
tonight got to drive y'all to our final destination and i'm glad y'all toast
toxic cuz that's what my house stay at all right so y'all all coming home we can
have a cook out when we done okay whatever y'all want to do cook out all right
need y'all to help me with this one too though all right so i'm a very
intelligent person right however at this grown age i still don't know
my abcs so i'mma sing them and i'm y'all going to help me figure out the two let's
that i'm always seeing the fuck up,
okay?
a, b, c, d, e, g, h, j, k, l, n, o, p,
q, r, s, tu, v,
w, x, y, and z, now i,
actually, i don't, i think miss two letters, can y'all help me please,
Okay right, okay, right, I f up any woman, I encounter, it doesn't matter the letter,
and just like that intro, I've always been a little x,
that had this thing for letters, see i had one woman tell me, I messed up so bad,
she was going to have ptsd forever, and I was sitting there like,
whatever, because I was too dumb to realize that karma is clever,
and the form it would be sent there would be the worst thing I could endeavor,
she sent in the form of woman.
woman by the name of narcissist personality showed you all her signs
of manipulative behavior but you know hurt you and worked you w her lack
of empathy but you're a daughter you try to unpack all of her bullshit just
to realize that she was a harder and she broadcasted it so large you could
watch it on your tv screen so like apple i mirrored it because if you will
be anything like the girly say be fucking for real as a man who was never
taught most had to learn how to feel,
had to learn the difference between what was fake and what was real,
but let you blur them together like the infl deal with accepting caverin nick's nell,
yeah he still doesn't have deal and they say it's cuz of skill like just
over stayings that m went over top with the simple terms people would tell
you they love and accept you for you but would tell you down for everything
that you are not and with the ego was big as mine if you make me feel like
less than i am i'd be like ea and show you that it's in the game i'll show
you that my daddy son that i've been piming since 96 and it toxic is my middle name,
i'll be morris chezna, you could be my biblical a,
and if you having trouble figuring out this equation, i'll be your mathway,
i'll show you how two negatives make a positive,
so go ahead let me all your lies and trauma, i'll deposit it,
anytime you want it, give it right back to you with a little extra top of it,
come on now, and don't get me wrong,
this isn't a poem or story about who's part it is, this poem is equivalent to dating site,
it's just show you that you met your match, so any hand.
you play, i'mma play it right back,
have you looking at the back of the car pack for manufacturing information cuz you
think you got a bad batch just to find your name engraved in it with my initials
in the fine print with words to read when he said find somebody else to play with
that's exactly what the fuck
he mean
and the sad thing is there is no fda drug reproof and ntd.
"that's why God created me so I could be exactly
what you need and give you dose of your own medicine.
Do you know how contradicting it is when a devil is heaven since and don't get me wrong.
When it comes to the definition of toxic,
I know what contains examples with my name next to it,
but I promise I want less of it cuuse that get back motherfucker,
but it's no longer on the agenda of things I want to do.
See i want to love that is simple,
I want to love that is sweet, I want to love that is..." pure, i want to love, it's true,
cuz woman by the name of narcissist personality disorder,
she beat my heart till was black, she beat my heart too, it was blue,
you would have thought she was doing open heart surgery,
and forgot every single procedure except the one on how to stop it,
but i have to let this mal practice go off of my soldiers cuz i'm so sick of being toxic,
i'm sorry.
All right, take some time to get the sponsor program,
I told out we had a show tonight, right?
yeah, yeah, um, so are y'all ready for your next competitor?
yeah, all right, I need the energy,
are y'all ready for your next.
coming all the way from Brooklyn, New York, my hometown,
yeah, okay.
It's getting quiet so I have to start, hello you guys, as she said prior,
my name is Acasia, your favorite Bookland poet,
you just don't know it yet, but you going to find out today,
look y'all, I remembered everything for this,
but I just feel like I want to hold the pages of my diary in my hand,
you know what I'm saying, so don't worry, but I do have one thing for you guys,
just want to ask, I feel like I'm going to save the...
coms back to back and the only thing that i'm going to have in between
is i'm going to say boom and i just need y'all to
go yeah that's it that's all need and if i get that
i will feel fulfilled and you guys will get a great show so if you're ready
i'mma startah there was moment
in time when i constantly cried but i walked outside with the utmost
pride and people gravitated to me,
you know, perceiving me as strong, but truth is,
lied, i was weak, i was fragile, i was crying out for help,
but nobody ever recognized the pain that i felt,
not the day drinking from the moment that open my eyes or the
excessive eating to try to fill vo that just never felt satisfied,
they just saw me smile and they perceived it as joy,
but each day I woke up and it was like checking in,
clocking in to depression, and I was 10 year employed,
slowly retracting parts of me that made me who I am today,
but it just never felt like it was who I was meant to be,
come on.
Come on, as if my parents don't constantly remind me to keep
your foot on their neck and remind them to not play about me,
but something inside me constantly tells me that
I will never amount to the person that I'm destined to be,
sincerely the scared little girl that lives in
my psychee, say yeah, but I got...
got it all right, next one,
i was numb, i was so numb that my heart and my mind,
my mind started to convince me that it did not exist,
so what did i do with this deep, dark empty of this?
i filled it with hopes and dreams that maybe one day we could make something out of this,
maybe if loved a little bit more they would valid.
my worth yet too scared to give my love away because it's easier to forget about
the next day and professor love you never had it low key makes you feel like
sociopath but wanted to feel so if kept acting maybe something would feel real
you know something anything i was feeding off people's energies giving the grand
a show crying about shit you did but knowing
things you'll never know wanting love for myself,
but self sabotaging it for myself,
not checking it on my mental health, living alone comfortably, entertaining male company,
superficially, ensuring that they have no emotional availability,
because I love how it keeps me empty,
getting back on my same roller coaster ride with the same guy, just a different face,
now I'm starting to feel like I'm in a race, now I'm putting him in his place.
pushing him out because he bulldosed into my space,
and I'm just trying to repair my damage at my own pace, and I know this is temporary,
so the relationship will dissipate.
I'm trying to drop the hints, but none of them take,
I'm trying to make you hate me to avoid the heartbreak,
because if I just leave, you'll say it's me, how I couldn't love you unconditionally,
oh look, another motherfucker not taking accountability for how they treated me.
"I dropped a mustard seed in the abys for hopes that one day it will grow,
with water, no light, no love, no sight, just the will and might that I will love one day,
despite my past rondebows with..." the same guy in new shoes,
but no drives, just limited action and lot of,
i tried, but who knew?
the constant disappointment and heartbreak would be my blessing in disguise.
i started cutting off the codependency ties,
started unveiling generational lies, elevating my spiritual side,
learning to love me first so i could project it outside, that mustard seed contain.
continues to grow, reinforcing old wounds that remain open,
filling my heart with sorrow, now look forward to better tomorrow, waking up in peace,
not letting anybody walk away with a piece of me again,
i want to be the person that i want to be, not just the person that everybody perceives,
and it all started with muster
seed boom.
"Hold on, my time's still going, hold up, all right, next, next one, y'all,
know your worth, then add tax, no coupon,
sale or voucher should be able to challenge that,
no more accepting counterfits from people that can afford you,
or laying away waiting for them to see your value."
"if your body was temple, it was never meant to be ran through,
surfing through subway drellers is beneath you,
giving you sub-part treatment while pretending to be in golf in you,
don't let nobody love bomb you while mixing in slided appraisals out the
blue mixing in sl frases
out the blue." using narcissistic tactics just to nail and screw,
they want you to swallow before you even true,
let them feed you, but let the bonds slowly brew.
McDonald's was never as fulfilling as soul food.
I just want you to know that you deserve more than a strimp
cocktail from a bottom feeder who lacks the fundamentals even be with you.
So, like I said, know your worth.
then attacks and if they try to renegotiate that shit
immediately fall back
boom,
i'm having so much fun with you guys tonight,
all right, this is the last one, okay, better.
the boom right this time when i say boom i'll say yeah do it let's try it boom yeah
that's what i need this
poem i just want to give a little introduction because you know when you deal with
people that have no emotional availability they never care about what love means to you
they don't care about your love languages or anything like that so i feel like i really
had to tell myself what does love mean to me in order to go out there and find it,
and I think that we should all find what love
means to us on the inside in order to find the outside,
because people on the outside will never give you happiness until you find it within
yourself.
Love is the integration of two souls that share
a common goal to love one another as they would thyself or their own.
to be loyal and respectable as you would to your ownself.
Love is an exchange of energy that overfills every cup of fulfillment.
Love is grounding get fluid.
Love is first Corinthians chapter 13.
Love is peaceful and serene. Love is evolutionary. When I met you, I knew I wanted to be.
better for us. Love means trust. I trust you with my heart.
I believe that you would cherish it even when we're apart.
Love is selfless, love is rebellious.
We push each other to higher heights for our own wellness.
Love is medicinal, love is unconditional.
I do believe that love was meant to be beautiful,
but sometimes I feel delusional because...
love is also the pain that feels my heart,
the ugly that makes me find the beauty in the mudene, love can literally drive.
doing saying: love can destroy your ego when you're most vulnerable.
love is deadly sense of lust that feel uncontrollable.
love is mind
altering.
it's where your dreams and your nightmares collide.
love is a 12-inch dagger that pierces my heart from the backside.
love is an uncomfortable feeling that radiates through your mind body.
body and spirit, love is given without the need of merit,
love is underrated where in the world today it feels like the
only thing that people value is triple x rated and i feel
baited because how could something so beautiful be taken for
granted,
but then i remember the times when i said i love you to guy and then i recanted.
'I wanted them to be the one,
but then again there's only one, just me, staring in the mirror,
knowing that true love doesn't start until I love the reflection, love is introspection,
love is loving parts of me that make me gag,
things that may be perceived as bad, but today mommy,
I am cleaning out my closet, because 'cuz love is growing up,
love is healing,
come on,
love is healing, love is patient,
love is forgiving, i believe that love resides in you and me,
and there's no better love than the love i feel for me,
and this armor wasn't built naturally, it took day'.
reinforcement to remind myself to love me first
so much that when i look in the mirror all do is smile,
i love myself,
all do is smile because i love myself,
and somehow when i look at you, i see parts of me,
so without discussion naturally love you too,
i really enjoyed that tonight,
yall have a good night, it's your
birthday,
thank
you.
boom oh it don't work it don't work for me it don't work for me okay boom that
little better i stilled that i'm sorry so um y'all mind if
do poem i wasn't going to
do this i wasn't i wasn't going to do this but you know y'all y'all energy,
y'all everything,
you know what, y'all got me feeling
good,
so can tell y'all what makes me feel good, yes girl,
okay, let me put my phone
down,
birds flying high.
You know how I feel,
sun in the sky,
you know how I feel,
breast drifting on by,
you know how I feel, it's a new dawn, it's a...
new day,
it's a new life, oh I'm not a singer, I'm sorry,
cuz
ain't no fuck nigga hitting my phone,
talking about all the
things he will do when I already know that he won't talk.
sweet lies like honey, he whispers to me when we're alone,
but it's funny how that truth spills out when fueled up with a bottle of patrone.
i'm a menace in his society, according to him, i'm always.
doing them wrong, he sayid, i got a ice cube f
or heart because didn't decide to ride along,
he expected me to be like every other pawn in his chest game,
but when you're a queen fit for a king,
you know you can't protect who ain't on board in your lane, he wanted the obsessive type,
the one that feeds his ego and fans his flames, but i'm not for the bare minimum,
giving more while receiving less and still craving equal exchange,
In other words, I ain't no desperate ass shallty,
and it's not because I have so many men on my body,
it's because I did the work discovering self and finding new
hobbies and I have a limited quota for niggas with excessive
sorries,
it feels good, holding out for what God has in store for me,
it feels good knowing no one has hold on me like nothing you do.
you no longer affects me, you could fuck her, her,
her, or even my bestie, see, I always rise above the bullshit,
so it's no surprise how I always passed when a nigga try to test,
look at them, mad because I'm protecting my peace,
man, because ain't no more shackles on my hands,
heart and feet, see he thought he could take advantage of anything in me,
he found faulty, but I refuse to be tied up the lockdown and his webs of insecurity,
see, I built this shit, come on,
and i'll be damned if let another nigger fuck it up because of his immaturity fuck
a future take this mask off his shotgun saw off his glasses of obscurity see trying
to hold me down without a sensor security is having to pay fees for a 12 man jury
i'm not for the weak meek or loss i'm for the man that's not for the birdies like
you playing around the golf high value walk with slight cockiness cuz he knows he's
not for everybody and seeks women with intelligence and hi confidence if he's
getting on his knee quite frankly is a big accomplishment because he's picking with
the seed and wants to break generations of baby mamas and
incompetents
i'm for the man that's not for the birdies like he playing around the golf high
volume walk with slight cockiness cuz he knows he's not for everybody and seeks
women with intelligence and high confidence if he's getting on his knee quite
frankly it's a a big accomplishment because he's picky with seed and wants to break
generations of baby mamas and incompetents,
so when i say that no longer have a fuck nigga hitting my phone,
talking about all the things he will do when i already know that he won't,
just know it's a new dawn,
it's a new day.
Yeah, it's a new life
for me,
and I'm feeling God,
all right, all right,
all right, well coming to the stage, I want y'all to make some noise for Derek Lee.
hey, i'm a old man, y'all got me outside a thursday way past my bedtime,
and if you're outside pass your bed time,
say we outside,
i remember when outside man,
we was drinking out the water hoes after hours
of playing or when outside man all the neighborhood boys with.
get together and we play, we call that hot ball in Jacksonville,
we toss ball up and whoever got it,
it was every man for himself and we was trying to hit stick each other through trees,
i remember when outside meant you knew you was outside
because when you came inside your mama tell you you smell like outside.
I just want to take y'all outside to the
playground the playset.
our bodies became pendulums, a friend would push us forward,
allowing the oppose and wind to graze against our youful skin, we reached the peak,
slight pause until gravity made us into missiles traveling
back in the direction of the very person who had just helped us hit a new height,
and as we approached our friend didn't try to stop us,
just anticipated the perfect time to press their palm into our sp.
and launches back towards the heavens, our hands released those chains,
we catapulted for just moment, the closest we ever felt the flying,
but that playground playset taught me, our friends won't always be around the push,
there will be times, we grapple with the chains of that sit alone,
present it with a choice to either sit and face the fight
or never feeling what it's like to fly again or you take the necessary.
every steps back, set up your advancement like sling, release, kick your feet,
allowing the back and forth to be a part of build emotion,
knowing that's the key that if you're going to sustain the momentum,
you got to be willing to swing,
playball, baseball,
we accepted the fat striking out just a part of the game within nine innings,
became content we at least landing couple of hits,
but we all know every kid dreams a slugging one over the fence,
that home run, it'sn't just about strength,
it requires hand eye alignment, combined with when preparation meets perfect timing,
and it won't happen every time you at back,
but if you ever going embrace the celebration of your team,
feel the vibration of the crowest chance,
hearing them scream that no matter how many
times you miss the next time you step up to that plate,
you got to be willing to swing playground,
that playground wasn't always so pleasant,
yeah, it only took one loss, one foul, one word, sometimes as simple as one look,
and two boys made their bald fists into crash stummies,
and we let it rock, as long as they kept it one-on-one with each other,
but let one of his boys make one false move,
our whole crew, was ready to be jacky and f before we ever let them rush
hours our whole crew was ready to be jackie and chris
tucker before we ever let them rush hours the epidemy of what
brotherhood means knowing we had each other's back it's what solidified
the team but here's the thing we ain't care if you knew how to fight you
just had to be willing to swing?
'y'all, I know adults,
those lessons from the playground still apply to today,
whether you fighting for that marriage,
you're fighting for your career, just fighting for that dream,
even if you don't know how,
you got to be willing to swing,
'y'all, I know it can be hard, especially when it feels like a day-to-day fight,
it's even harder when it feels like you living with the enemy,
as kid,
I had no choice but to fight cuz my brother was bully,
I was rad dog for his wrestling moves,
he would fold my limbs like laundry, his forearm was my next first'.
introduction to a closed line i lost count of the untreated concussions i received
from the times he tried to power drive me through the floor i'm still traumatized
from the years that we shared the same bed the nights he would passed gas then
pulled the covers over my head his stinch creating a nous around my lungs as i claw
at the covers gasping for air the last time i schnit saw my brother he gave me
a wedgy from hell,
but pulling my draws to the heavens, hooked me on the corner of the door for hours,
left me hanging in there, my brother was villain,
but he was also my best friend, showed me the ropes in this tug of war finding who i am,
he pulled me under his wing, never hesitated to push me out a horn's way,
before i ever wanted to be the black panther, wanted to be my brother,
marvel and how he bored his flat skin like suit or armor,
the way he let the flap of his du rat hang down like a camp and
every day on the basketball court i witness with my own two eyes,
what it's like to watch a black boy fly,
my brother, it's my hero, watch to be light for others,
although along this road he had his own dark side to face,
even in his lowest lane, never saw him lose faith,
that's why i worry for my brother cuz if there's anything
he talked me about the comments is that every superman has his dude.
but my brother's concept of strong is so broken,
he would never fix his lips to ask for help,
when i would walk into his room and ask him how he's doing,
he would say i'm hanging in there, i knew it meant he was hanging on about a thread,
his mouth remains stits, eyes and broad with pain, he been...
hanging in there so long, i watched my brother lose his drive,
but refuse to let him release his will to live,
always trying to be the man of steel, eventually takes a told,
especially when trying to navigate alone,
so remind him that's what the super friends will f my brother on your dark nights,
i will be your batman, yes we joke about his like power,
but when it's time to remove the mads and just be human, that's something bruce can do.
that Clark can't my brother, I'm here to hold you down as kids,
you're stronger, but we're older now, so yeah, heavy is the head,
but little brother's here to help you hold your crown,
because I much rather make room for my brother's
burdens than ever walk into a room and see him hanging
in there.
And I want to give my brother advice, but who am I?
Who am I to minimize the reasons why you ruminate on the orchestration of your own demise?
Now in my honest opinion,
all the doubts and negative thoughts about yourself that you subscribe.
life is full of lies, but who i?
your free will means you not confined to the alternate views i'm attempted to provide,
but if this time and you oblige please hear me when i say i see you the
recognize that's just nothing i can do to race all those sights with the
silent cries i can't be you but that don't mean i never felt the weight
guilt shame embarrassment that ways of evil heal and hurt from putting faith
in people like i'm sorry for the pain you was
given in this moment if you choose to listen,
then i need you to know every mistake doesn't constitute a crucifiction,
certain lessons to be gained only through forgiveness,
and a good place to start slicking in the mirror, yeah,
a good place to start slicking in the mirror,
but who i?
i remember i was filling down and out, i broke, no job.
Cooked up in the guest bed room at my parents house,
come on boy, I had to realize even that was a blessing now, I can't imagine life without,
parents should provide a shelter while I question what this life about,
or people will push me to pick the next top at the right about,
I spent time pretending I was well put together,
I wasn't, meanwhile mama was dying for desire for sun touches,
but I just flip the script, now mama she life and everything her son touches,
a paradox I put my pride.
side now pops take pride every word pronounced out of his people's mouth had to learn
the power life and death is in the tongue so for all those who doubt i'm the paul
bear or bad news you ain't i ain't the killer but don't push me i just flip the
script again lord willing keep pushing i make it killing these experiences i'm
sharing through my teeth are new to me but the root is still the same feeling cuz
i've been peeking through that win off opportunity even when we h to pot the piss
in all talking back when rasheed and bit ban was posting up with the pistons i wanted
to be a bit man like praying my pin skills with phil wallet self-perception
predicated by prophets trying to be a king i should have been i've been one just had
to turn my stream of consciousness and to a stream of income negative accounts all
set by the worrities the moment focus more on pursuing my purpose than people who
noticed me check my call out i'm still rocking mikes no longer keeping up with the
joneses That's cuz back in when they didn't want me,
I was stressed out,
let's just say I'm still trying to dig a little deeper, but I'm well now,
witness some more ws and l's now cuz I watch and learn to embrace.
wins and losses a warn love that remind me of my brother who pursuing music,
people questioning why he doing it cuz present day it ain't looking lucrative,
no matter how true that is, if it's his passion and makes him happy,
my advice keep doing it, you be a champion, keep proving it,
don't let that negativity influence you cuz none of them
will ever understand what it takes to walk in the shoes you in,
there are mommy and my sister who pursuing her business, people question.
and why she doing it, this present day,
he ain't looking lucrative, no matter how true that is,
if it's a purpose and allons where a passion,
my advice, keep doing it, you been a champion,
keep proving it, don't let that negativity influence you,
cuz none of them will ever understand what it takes to walk in the shoes you in,
i know there's people listening right now,
you fighting for a dream, it's you fat since you was kid.
Okay mom, yeah, and people question why you doing it,
cuz present day ain't looking lucrative,
no matter how true that is, if it's your purpose and alians with your passion,
my vice, keep doing it, you be a champion, keep proving it,
don't let that negativity influence you cuz none of them
will ever understand what it takes to walking and shoot you in,
let me be more specific,
shout out to my brother John echos cuz he released a song to help me reach another level,
told y'all i was down and now question what this life about,
i was about to go and saying kill couldn't understand why i was going through
some things to i realized i can't ask for growth the complain about the grown
pains now used to hurt me oh cane but it's chiller not numing the type of things
i wants i go through it's no longer topic of discussion keep moving to next
subject but it's no spreading treating this journey like a maracon with the type
of triumphs to make it hard to be humble cuz
many men tried to not the hustle the devil tried.
flip me by bounce back and do an extra lap for the
victory
ye can get a year what
a and he is shout out to dj fight yes he is yes
and real quick let's shout out your judges for tonight again a poet
named superman boss lady
jay and the man with the
plan queen city awards owner creator
established yeah
so yeah it's time to reveal the...
winner, yeah, this one,
yeah,
can I have my wonderful poets come to the stage?
yeah,
let's clap it up for them, coming to the stage, wow, yes.
I'm seeing one, two, three, four,
miss, miss the table for one, oh, he dipped early,
he said empty to take, okay, all right, so again,
let's get one massive applause to the poets that grace to say.
Sorry, that's the eat, y'all all ate, and so before I announce the winner,
I just want to say to the poets that Grace the Sage, no matter what the results is,
y'all all were fire,
okay, and I don't want anyone here to think that
just because they didn't take the W, that they are.
are not it okay, because just like a drake or kendrick could take a artist of the year,
that don't mean the rest of them is trash, remember that right?
all right, so i just want y'all to know y'all all ate,
now drum roll,
we got time y'all, boy coming.
spider-man, spider-man, okay, no, okay, all right,
so the tie is between.
Derek Lee
come on other time
swap the
pololl we got
to poety off off.
Yeah, okay, okay, let's go,
I told y'all the crowd that y'all had a really important job right,
cuz I said, I felt it in my spirit, it was going to be a tie,
but y'all are going to break this tie, oh shit, oh shit,
so whatever you voted with that QR code is going to pick the winner,
all right, all right, so...
the second up person will win the frank expression feature so have his
own show yall better pay and yall better go cuz obviously dope regardless
and the next one and the winner will go to the next round to compete
to be the poetry and motion winner y'all ready can get
a dr and the
winner for the...
the fourth installment of poetry and motion
is shut
out all right derek you don't want to speech.
uh thank god for the gift for being able any
opportunity i get to touch stage shout out to my wife,
it's her birthday tomorrow,
shout out to all the artis and see yall
in.
I call man, let me slide this bat down. All right, well, congratulations again, Derek Lee.
Thank you again to our poet uh, for our judges, sorry.
Um, the third,
well, no, the fifth installment of poetry emotion competition will be July 31st,
so Thursday, July 31st,
we will be back here for the final
installment of six poets that will be going head to head.
That's going to be our season one.
Don't worry, we're going to bring this back again, there's going to be.
so all that points heard in the room gear up all right all right so also you can
watch this all again on your connected tv app via fire tv or your road cool okay
so you could watch it as much times remember and remember to follow the queen
city awards follow frank expression and again if yall want to say connected with
me i'm share coco you can find me on instagram that's s h e r c o c a shear coco
and Yeah,
any footage you captured tonight, please tag Queen city awards, please, if if I'm in it,
okay, okay, all right, and y'all get home, safe, mix, mingle, comes out to tap,
and have a good rest of your night
y'all.