Saturday, June 28, 2014

My Desire

















To know love is my desire
To be touched by love
To share joy, sorrow,
hope for tomorrow

To know love is my desire
To see your smile
hear your voice calling my name
My life will never be the same


To know love is my desire
to be held, caressed, knowing you care
in a deep, real way
our lives we'll share

My heart's dream is to know true love
the kind that doesn't hurt or cause pain
To know love in this life is my desire
My life will never be the same

To know love is my desire
To see your smile
hear your voice calling my name
My life will never be the same

 

Friday, June 27, 2014

The Greatest Gift ©

















You were not the most handsome man
Nor were you the kindest
You had eyes full of pain
Sad, sad eyes
Anger was your constant companion
Why were you so angry Flyn?
Who hurt you so deeply?
Sometimes when I looked at you
I saw a hurting child
I wanted to wrap my arms around you
and hold you close for a while
But you wouldn't let me

You never let me in
Your pain was deep and dark
I wish I knew how to love you
I wish I knew how to soothe you
You made me cry
Your cruel words
Hard looks
Silence, violence
You hurt me so deeply
When I swallowed the bottle of pain pills
I really did want to die

I couldn't let death win
I had to fight
You were my best teacher
I cried out to God day and night
The years passed and
you never changed
But I grew stronger everyday
My faith in God did not sway

I wish I could have loved you past
the hatred of your stepfather
your childhood pain
Vietnam
drug addiction
alcoholism
homelessness
anger
shame

You never learned to conquer your demons
When you died
I cried day and night
I cried
because I love you still
I love you Flyn
I always will

You taught me that love covers
a multitude of faults
Love is the strongest force on
the face of the earth
Love last forever
transcends this life
heals every hurt
eases every pain
When all else is gone
Love remains
Thank you for teaching me
the greatest gift is love



















Flynard Cunningham
May 15, 1949 - August 9, 2013

Monday, June 23, 2014

Hair

Someone said its your crown and glory
but my hair is another story

It reflects y personality
Some days its big and wild  on some days its long and straight

I like it short and curly
or shaved on one side and braided on another

Some people wear it bushy and bold
and some like it silky and tame

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Night Season
















Night season shrouded me like a heavy garment
and choked me like thick smoke
My breath escaped this earthen vessel
and sang a song of despair
My tears flowed like streams in the desert
and carried me to a place, a secret place
I found hope there

Night season stalked me like a jealous lover
You will never find another
I will follow you all of your days
Smother you, cover you
Never release my hand
He chased me like a ravenous beast. I ran,
crawled and climbed into the secret place
There I found peace

He wooed me into his bosom again
He had me in his grip
His waters came rushing in
like a mountainous wave
Lifting me up and crashing me to the ground
I lay there broken, gasping for breath, life, relief
I fell down, down, down
Too much pain
I feel like I'm going insane

I saw the earth open and heard these words spoken
Just give in, you can not win
I have reigned since the beginning of time
You belong to me your soul is mine
In desperation I heard my spirit say
Speak to the mountain
Speak to the mountain
Speak to the mountain MOVE!

To the mountain I began to say
You are not my master
I will not fall into your pit
You don't own my soul
You cannot win, I relinquish your control

Healing rays lifted me up from where I had fallen
I remembered my time
In the secret place
And my soul sang, my soul sang, my soul sang...
There is no darkness in the secret place
Only the light of the Son
I will walk in the light of day

Night season began to melt away
I saw mountains move, shimmy, shake and sway
Dark shadows ran from the light with shrieks of fear
As my song filled the atmosphere

Day season flashed like lightning from the east
I heard him say
My child Its going to be a bright sun shinny day,
you have conquered your beast

Day season promised never to leave or forsake me
Into his secret place he lifted and carried me
There we reign together in glorious victory
There is a secret place to those who seek his face
Seek his face and find the secret place

In the Morning

 
In the morning
We will dance, shout and sing
In the morning
We will laugh, run and leap
Crying tears of joy

Our night season is over
Our new day is dawning
Its a day of victory
A day of rejoicing

In the morning
I will remember yesterday was only a test
A vapor of smoke, a shadow of turning

In the morning
I will live forever
In green pastures
Beside still waters
In eternal light
My evening has passed
Morning is here at last
 

Friday, June 20, 2014

Black Girl © Part One
















I was born at Mercy Hospital.
My mother was only twenty-one years old.
She was supposed to have a hysterectomy a year before I was born.
This is what I was told.
When my sister Belinda was born
Momma started bleeding on the operating table.
The Nuns at Mercy Hospital cried
"Hold on honey, we are going to get you through this
Just believe God is able."

Daddy was a storefront preacher.
He had secrets that nobody would ever believe to be true.
To tell the truth, we all have secrets.
I may share some of mine, here with you.

When Belinda was four months old,
Momma found out another baby she carried.
First there was Larry
born nine months after momma and daddy got married.
Junior came twelve months later.
Then along came Belinda with all the drama.
It was called a placenta previa pregnancy,
designed to kill my momma.
And then there was me.

Daddy was a Jack of all trades.
He worked for the government as a mechanic fixing airplanes.
But that's not all he could do.
Daddy could do plumbing, electrical wiring, and carpentry work too.
He could even preach and teach.
The only thing daddy couldn't do
was love his family like the bible tells us to.

Husbands love you wives as
Christ loved the church and gave himself for her.
Well as far as I can tell,
a man is supposed to love his wife so much that he will die for her.
Die for your wife, now that is a concept that we need to explore further.

Eve was the first wife on the planet.
Her husband Adam was God's crowning creation
sent on a special mission
to populate the earth with sons and daughters of God.
To do this Adam needed a wife.
So almighty God put Adam to sleep on his operating table
and took from his side a rib bone.
From this rib bone, God created woman.
She was created to help man.
They were both part of the eternal plan.

Now before time began there existed a heavenly kingdom.
Almighty God created every creature that inhabited this land.
Angels, seraphim, cherubim and all sorts of living creatures.
The most beautiful of them all
was Lucifer the Angel of worship.
This magnificent creature was a living symphony.
He covered the very throne of God with living music that filled eternity.
Everything in heaven is alive, moving, glowing,
giving praise to the him who is All-seeing, Ever Present, All Knowing.
Lucifer was illuminated with light, as were all the other sons of God.
When he moved the music within him gave praise
in majestic melody to the one who sits on the throne.
For he is God, God alone.

Lucifer danced and sang, and music leaped off of him like
spiced perfume flowing throughout the kingdom of heaven.
As he worshiped, all the other angels joined in and all of the kingdom
bowed before the throne of the heavenly king.
Roses, calla lilies and violets all joined in to sing
praises to the Most High King.
And the worship leader of heaven began to soak it all in
as if he was the object of their worship.
This was the first sin.
His glorious beauty became his doom.
He wanted all the worship displayed in this heavenly throne room.
Here we see the conception and birth of pride
festering on the inside,
unable to be seen,
but not hidden from the heavenly King.

This beautiful creature got the thought in his head
to take over the kingdom, but he was banished instead.
He convinced one hundred billion angels to perpetrate the coup.
And all of his cohorts were banished too.
Exiled, shamed, kicked out of God's heavenly domain.

Michael the Arch Angel led the army of heaven
as they fought Lucifer and his demented horde.
And conquered them in the name of the Lord.
They fell like lightning!
From heaven to earth they fell
and on their way down their light turned to darkness,
their glory to shame,
they became brute beast,
deformed creatures, unworthy to bear heaven's name.
This exiled traitor set up his kingdom of darkness in the air.
He plotted to rule the earth from his evil lair.

Now God placed Adam and his wife in a garden called Eden.
They were living souls infused with eternal life.
Within that life giving essence was true love,
the heavenly kind, that says I am yours and you are mine.
Adam loved his wife and she loved him too.
Living and loving is what they were created to do.

God visited Adam in the garden and they walked together in eternity
In this special time of learning from the King
Adam named every living creature and every creeping thing.
He walked and talked with God in the cool of the day until one day Satan
fooled his wife into wanting to be like God.
This is called the pride of life.
So she ate from the tree that had been forbidden to partake of.
And Adam ate too.
He did it for love.
You see because of the long talks he had with his master
he knew that this act would cause cataclysmic disaster.

Eve was now death doomed, mortal, merely human.
She had to die for her disobedience he knew this was true.
So he partook of the forbidden fruit and chose to die too.
Adam looked down through time and his eternal eyes could see,
one day a savior would come and set the human race free.
He was the second and last Adam, the Son of Almighty God.
On the head of the enemy he would surely trod.

Why would this God man give his life.
Because before time began he died for his wife.
God took this act of love and wrapped it in time
and set the clock and watched it unwind.

You and I were part of the plan
to regain glory and honor for mortal man.
So listen to my story that I choose to share
and dig deep inside you'll find yourself there.
Where, you ask?
In the book that was written before time began
when God chose to defeat Satan by using mortal man.



To be continued


Thursday, June 19, 2014

When I Was One and Twenty

When I Was One and Twenty
By E.A. Housman
Paraphrase by  Donna McKanders



















When I was twenty one years young
I listened to the wisdom of an older one
Shower them with gifts,
Give them chocolate and flowers,
But never give your heart
For you will relinquish your powers.”
But I was twenty one, I already knew everything
What kind of wisdom could this old man bring?

When I was twenty one
I heard the old man say.
If you give your heart away
There’s a price you must pay.
Sighs, sorrows and regret,
this act will cost you.”
Now I’m twenty two, and
All he said is true, so true.


 

Today I Set Before You an Open Door


























What a difference a day makes
Yesterday, it all seemed so simple
Running, with lifted arms
Praising God, for life, youth, love
Nothing to stop me
No barriers, no past to be paralyzed by,
My life was an empty canvas

A big old road block named Trouble,
got in my way
Never met him before
He followed me everywhere I went,
Mostly I saw his shadow
Creeping around every door
What you want?
Why you following me?

I thought I heard Trouble say,
I want your future,
your destiny
Every move I make,
Trouble is mocking me
You caint rise up, might as well stop tryin'
I stopped your Momma, your Daddy,
your cousins and them
You might as well give in,
You caint win

I tried to look Trouble in the eye
I couldn’t find him anywhere,
Just his shadow
You just an illusion
Causing confusion
A shadow of something
already defeated
Under my feet

Today is a brand new day
Ain’t nothing gonna stop me
Cause I'm not afraid any more
I see before me an open door
I’m walking through it this time.
Into my destiny…


 

Today I set before You an Open Door















 
What a difference a day makes
Yesterday, it all seemed so simple
Running, with lifted arms
Praising God, for life, youth, love
Nothing to stop me
No barriers, no past to be paralyzed by,
An empty canvass
A big old road block named Trouble,
got in my way
Never met him before
He followed me everywhere I went,
Mostly I saw his shadow
Creeping around every door
What you want?
Why you following me?
I thought I heard him say,
I want your future,
yo destiny
Every move I make,
Trouble is mocking me
You cain’t rise up, might as well stop tryin
I stopped yo Momma, yo Daddy,
yo cousins an nem
You might as well give in,
You cain’t win
I tried to look Trouble in the eye
I couldn’t find him nowhere,
Just his shadow
You just an illusion
Causing confusion
A shadow of something
already defeated
Under my feet
Today is a brand new day
Ain’t nothing gonna stop me
Cause I ain’t scared no more
I see before me an open door
I’m walking through it this time.
Into my destiny…

     

A New Day Dawning



















Welcome to your new day
It has been on its way since creation
and awaiting your arrival
Many things have tried to stop you from seeing this day
The family you were born into
The man you married when you were too young to know better
The time you tried to end it all because of all the abuse
But God had his hand on you
You came through many tests and trials
Storms, sorrow and shame
But you made it in Jesus name!
So be glad and rejoice
This is your day because you made a choice
to believe God in spite of the odds
Mountains got in your way but you learned how to make them obey
Speak to the mountain, speak to the mountain, speak to the mountain Move!
And they did!
Weapons came against you
And you spoke to them too
I declare and decree that no weapon shall prosper that is formed against me!
They were formed but they did not prosper!
You climbed higher and higher with every test
Now you are destined to receive the best
that God has prepared for you
All because you chose to believe that
What God has promised he is able to do
Welcome to your day
You passed your test
Now its time to be blessed, blessed, blessed
The best is yet to come
Step into a brand new day
The glory shall be shown and known
Take mountains, take kingdoms, 
This is your predestined day
There will be no delay!
 

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Africa's Children of Destiny

 














When the angel of sleep cradles me
In the warm nocturnal blanket of midnight
I dream
I dream of children
Africa's children
Dark and comely
Waiting in the corridors of justice
With eyes of hope, dreams of promise, hearts of courage
Africa's sons and daughters
Arising from the dust to walk as kings and queens in the earth
And so they come
From the four corners of the dark continent
As a mighty army
Africa's children
Dark and comely
Marching in step, in time, in divine synchrony
Marching to fulfill their destiny
I hear the voice of destiny summonsing her children
Awake, awake, put on your strength
Shake yourselves from the dust
It's your time now
Awake Africa's children of destiny
Like a veil lifted from my eyes
The angel of sleep escapes with the rising of the sun
Over the horizon past the expanse of the deep blue
I see farther than my eyes can see
Africa's sons and daughters marching like waves of glory
converge upon the earth
Dark and comely
Africa's children covering the earth
And justice shall run down like water
and righteousness like a mighty stream
All the earth shall see it together
and the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord
As the waters cover the sea
And so they come Africa's children of destiny

by Donna McKanders






 

Sunday, June 15, 2014

Free Me!



When I was a little girl
my Momma would shampoo my long,
 thick, bushy, uncontrollable, hair.
shampoo, press and curl.
Ouch! Ouch!
Hush girl, I'm not hurting you!
'Bout ten loosely braided locks fall from my thick mane.
As I sit in front of the heat vent waiting for it to tame.
Why my hair so bushy? I say to myself.
My head hurts SO bad!
Why Momma always making such a fuss over my head?
Come here girl let me comb yo hair out.
Ouch, Ouch!
If you put yo hand up here one mo time I'll hit you with this brush
I heard Momma shout.
What is this madness all about?
Sizzle, Sizzle, sizzle went the pressing oil as the hot comb
cooked my hair to pristine silkiness.
It's hot in here, my neck hurts, can I take a break?
I'm half way done, Please, just sit still for goodness sake!
Shampoo, comb,
comb, part and grease
that scalp.
Got to rescue this girl from the cursed African nap.
When all her work was thru, she'd say, Now don't tell no one what I done
Don't you dare.
If they say, do you get your hair pressed?
Say, No I don't, cause I got good hair!
If this hair so good why do I feel so bad?
I know what I'm gonna do when I get old enough
I ain't gonna shampoo press and curl.
I'm tired of all this deceitful stuff!
I'm gonna set my hair free
When I grow up,
I'm gonna just be me !



Friday, June 13, 2014

Winters Coming

 
 
 
 

It's Fall, and the leaves are changing color-
so is my hair,
The sun falls asleep earlier
                                                              So do I,

                                           Thoughts of winter linger in the wind,
Cool breezes, clandestine voices,
peeking in the windows of my mind.
Every morning another branch is almost empty-
Why did the leaves have to fall,
so soon, too soon?


Must get my work done,
I here wisdom say with the rising of the sun,
Winter don't wait for no one.
Wasn't thinking about winter ,
in summer.
didn't think about nothing,
in Spring.


Clouds dancing, earth turning, sun burning up the oceans,
and sending it all back in refreshing rain.
No sorrows, no worries, no cares, no pain,
Spring, you taught me to sing.

Little Sally Walker sitting in a saucer,
Rise sally rise, wipe yo weeping eyes.

 
Summer came like a mighty conqueror,
All dressed up in armor,
Hot and sultry, long jubilant days,
pushing back the darkness, resisting the light of the moon,
didn't know it couldn't last forever.
Fall came too soon,
and winter's on her trail.

Rise Sally rise, wipe yo weeping eyes,
Put your hand on yo hip and let yo back bone slip.
 
Not ready for winter,
got things to do.
Ain't got nothing to lose,
don't have time for no sad song.
Ain't singin the blues.
The sun gets up every morning,
so do I.
singing, Glory Halleluiah,
So do I,

Time for living, got a promise to see.
Fall is just another season,
To fulfill my destiny.
Tell winter he'll have to wait,
Me and destiny got a predetermined date.
I'm not early or late.

It's my season,
in the Fall of my life.

Aw shake it to the east,
Aw shake it to the west,
Aw shake it to the very one,
That you love the best.

I see pretty gifts falling like snow flakes
all wrapped up in sparkling, glistening paper dreams.
And long cozy nights, filled with sober, warm conversations.

Awakening to birds singing.
The sun beaming,
sending rays of wisdom.
that only winter can comprehend.




 

Prince Charming


Thursday, June 12, 2014

There's A Reason for the Pain


















Don't let nothing stop you
You have to push your way through
You see there's a reason for the pain...
Just as there's a reason for the rain


Little drops falling softly
bringing life, beauty,

and destiny
Yes, for there is a seed buried in the earth
That no one can see


Little drops falling softly
The plant begins to grow
pushing its way through the dark cold earth into
the bright shinning sun.

Strong winds blow

Clouds grow dark and torrential rains come

That little plant bows its head in the storm
and just when you think that the little plant is done
It lifts up its hands to the warm gentle sun


As it grows big and tall and becomes a tree
Because of the storm, the wind and rain
A little seedling becomes mighty!

It was the storm that caused it to fulfill its destiny

Don't let nothing stop you
You have to push your way through
There's a reason for the pain
Just as there's a reason for the rain



 

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Forgive


 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Forgiveness

Why everybody so hard on the Black man?
I was only being curious.
Like all children.
I didn’t mean no harm

when I used to sneak into yo' room at night

and touch you in all the wrong places.

You was curious too,

cause you didn’t put up no fight.

 
Forgive

I was a chile

Don’t try to blame that mess on me.

Why was I the victim of yo' curiosity?

They didn’t know,

they couldn’t trust y'all boys

Sleeping upstairs on the same flo'

with us girls.

While they slept downstairs

Behind closed doors.

Parents better wake up.

Sometimes da Boogey man……

Is  yo' uncle, yo' brother, or yo' couzin.

Why is everybody so hard on the Black man?

Maybe cause you need to take some responsibility

for all the pain you inflicted upon me.

You had no right to awaken that part.

Maybe my life wouldn’t of been

so full of promiscuity.

If you had just let me be

 from the start.

I know we was kids and that was fifty years ago or so.

So I choose today to let it go.

It’s been buried all this time inside of me.

But now I lose it and set myself free.

No more victim mentality!

 
Forgiveness

Why is everybody always so hard on the Black man?

I was too young to get married.

I just did it

Cause that was my baby you carried.

I didn’t want all that responsibility.

Yeah, I know I had a good job.

But my money was for me.

I wa’nt 'bout to take care of no family.

 
Forgive

Well then Nigga, you should of let me be!

I didn’t propose to you.

You proposed to me.

I was better off with out yo sorry ass, anyway.

To stupid to know,

when you rejected me,

that was just God settin me free.

Why was I so stupid

loving you?

You was busy loving every body else.

You didn’t respect me.

And you didn’t respect yo' self.

Just a punk.

Took me eleven years to get over you.

That’s how long it took for the Kool Aid to wear off,

I drank that syrupy sweet message every Sunday in church.

What God has joined together let no man put asunder.

Why we think God had somethin' to do with that mess?

I wonder.

Till God himself came to me in a dream.

He picked me up and took me across some mountains

down south.

I was liftin' my hands praising God.

When he spoke to me.

“You have done all I asked you, except one thing.”

I heard God say.

Lord, what is it?

I promise to obey.

Then God left off talking.

But I saw my wedding ring

rise up off my hand

 floatin’ up to  the heavens.

My husband?

You want me to give up my husband?

Took me three years just to obey.

Guess you had my nose wide open,

as they say.

Living in the south with all that good old southern hospitality

had a nice healing effect on me.

I thank God everyday for settin me free.

I forgive you and I forgive me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Awakening










Awakening

 

Waiting, anticipating, enduring,

relaxing...awakening.

Waiting for all my dreams to come true.

Waiting to see my destiny.

Waiting to become the woman, the mother, the wife I know I can be.

 

Anticipating the joy, the laughter, the excitement and wonder

Anticipating the dream that has been deferred, the life so longed after...

Anticipating what it must feel like to love, to be loved.

Anticipating birth...Our birth I've dreamed of.

The birth of unrepentant, undunting love

 

Enduring the pain of my choices, my decisions, my weaknesses.

Enduring a life I never asked for, nevertheless here it is.

Enduring his abuse, her neglect, Whippings as a child. Beatings as a wife.

Enduring the pain of my choices, her choices, his choices, this life.

 

Relaxing knowing I'm still on course, there will be no delay.

Relaxing knowing this is my time, my season, my predestined day.

Relaxing and feeling fine, at peace and content with you in mind.

Relaxing, living, breathing, giving, learning...

 

Awakening to the sun rising on the other side of this pain.

Awakening to a bright and shining horizon.

Awakening the singer,  the dancer, actor and poet, 

Awakening to a lesson well learned, life is my teacher,

 the classroom my journey.

Don't I know it.

 

The lesson is love, the greatest gift, the essence of being.

Well worth the pain endured along the way,

to know love, feel love, express love in a surreal way.

True love, pure love, is worth the wait you see,

For love, true love has awakened the true woman in me.





 

Family Tree



















My family tree always bothered me
On one side there's doctors and lawyers
While the other side just gets poorer and poorer

I think the difference can be identified by the words
We heard when we were children

One day you will go to college
and increase knowledge
And they did

Get a job and give your money to me or get out
was our bid
I think we were just an added responsibility

While on the other side of the family tree
they were taught to achieve and strive
For a better life

We were taught to settle,
just survive
Maybe become some man's wife

How can one turn this kind of fate around?
It takes courage
Courage to break the family curse of poverty
Courage to face the challenge of adversity
and fight the odds

Courage to go to college
And study hard
Courage to fall down and get back up again
Courage to fail, but fight till you win

Courage to take a minimum wage job with the plan in mind
To tap into your highest potential and one day leave all this behind

When I look at my family tree
Sometimes I get angry
I see success in our DNA
Seems like on my side of the family
there's a slight delay

Delayed but not denied
I heard the preacher say
Wonder why God chose to do it this way?

I refuse to be identified by my family tree
There is a good life prepared for me
It is my manifest destiny

It has cost me some blood, sweat and tears
And forced me to face all of my fears
I even made a deliberate choice
to say to my children
listen to that inner voice
Telling you to be different
creative, hard working and smart
So that one day your children can have a better start
in this life
and not just settle for being some man's wife

Told my kids that they can change the family tree
And rise up
Change the world
Teach, preach
Become a poet
Write a book, write a play
Just do it!

So that when they look at their family tree
They can say
Generational blessings follow my family

We are the head and not the tail
above and not beneath
World shakers, History makers,
trail blazers,
More than conquerors
Not scared of a fight
Blessed going out
and blessed coming in!
Because we learned
With God's grace and mercy
We win!



Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Divine Timing

In his book, Divining Timin, Bishop Nicholas Williams says; God in His infinite wisdom has set seasons

Sunday, June 8, 2014

Sunday Mornings



















Sunday mornings
Mothers everywhere
Drag their kids out of bed
With no time to spare

Wash up!
Get dressed!
Gotta comb yo' head!
No time for breakfast
Here, eat this candy bar instead

I sing in the choir
and serve on the usher board
Need to get there on time
Praise the Lord!

Remember Pastor said
If all you do is sit on the pew
You gone miss heaven
'Cause God don't know you

Woman, why you believe everything that Pastor say?
Told you I saw him on the corner of Woodward and Six Mile just the other day

Leonard! You keep talking like that God goin' to strike you dead
The man of God ain't never been in no prostitute's bed!

He up there preaching against sin
And I know he sleepin wit Susie, Debra and Gwen!
Why you think the pastor so saved?
His family living like kings and queens
While you caint eat nothing but pork and beans

My pastor is a righteous man
He said it's time to go in and possess the land

Well don't put none of my hard earned money in his hand
He jus pimpin' y'all with all his highfalutin' living
You just caint see it cause you been tricked into giving

Every dime that comes into yo' hand
You runs to the church and give it to that man
He done lost one church building
He ain't righteous, just greedy
Now you follows him to another!
Cause you so needy
He just a pimp undercover!

Leonard! You ought to be a shame
I rebuke you devil, in Jesus name!

Woman read yo' bible you will see
God said in the last days thats how things would be
Preachers talking about how they rich
When they naked, rachet and po'
If you study for yo'self, you would know
that you part of the Laodicean church
Just too blind to see
Think I'm the devil
When the devil is he
The preacher man
Full of adultery

Never content
every dollar y'all give him
Already spent
His wife wears a new dress every Sunday
and the church going into foreclosure on next Monday
While you shopping at the Goodwill
and caint pay yo cell phone bill

God wrote you some letters in this here book
When you gone sit down and take a look?
You been brain washed by men wearing backwards collars
They'll even sell you a prophecy for fifty dollars

Now don't get me wrong
They ain't all con-men
Just the covert ones
laden in sin

I pray one day God opens yo' eyes
If not, In heaven there will be a big surprise
The preacher went to hell and so did his wife
Cause they devoured widow's houses in this here life



 

Thursday, June 5, 2014

Church Folk, continued


Everyone in the restaurant looked embarrassed or annoyed.

"Why do you have to parade your holiness, Tameka?"
"I am a child of God I don't care who knows it. How is James acting?"
 "He came home from work yesterday and cussed me and the girls out."
 "For what?'
"He never needs a reason, he just cusses and fusses, I think he is trying to drive us crazy."

(Flashback 1963)Fourteen year old James walked into the thirty seven year old prostitute's bedroom. She was the same height as he. Her disheveled black hair was curled in some places and bushy in others. It smelled of Bergamot and dirty straightening comb. Her breasts once round and firm, hung under her nearly sheer t-shirt. Her breath entered his nostrils with the aroma of strong beer. The room smelled like old mildewed carpet that had never been vacuumed. Shabby red curtains hung from one small window. A dingy gray shade clapped against the dirty window panes as the wind whistled through the cracks. She took a deep drag from her cigarette and taking his hand in hers, walked him over to the bed. The smoke from the cigarette formed a dark cloud over the dingy, dusty, queen size bed. A mouse the size of a woman's fist ran across the headboard, as five cock roaches scurried over her half-finished dinner plate. 
"Is this your first time?"
"Uh, yeah"
"Your brothers told me today is your birthday"
"Uh yeah"
"Then happy birthday baby boy"

She pulled his shirt over his shoulders, over his head, he felt scared and curious all at the same time. Her kiss was the kiss of death, her fingers gripped his body and her tongue rolled over his lips like sweet dripping honey. James hated her, he hated his brothers for bringing him here. He hated his sisters because they were just like her. And he hated his mother.

Every time James tried to urinate he cried, the pain hurt so bad. It burned like fire.
"I must be dying, she gave me something; that hoe, that nasty, stankin’ hoe"

(Flashback 1993)
"You just a nasty, stankin’ hoe!"
"James I am tired of you calling me a hoe, is your Mama a hoe?"
"Yeah, she a hoe"
“What about your sisters, are they hoes?"
"Yeah, all women are hoes"
"Oh, I hate you!”
Before she realized what she was doing, Dana picked the dinner plate up off the table and threw it at his head. James ducked just in time.

"Hate is a strong word" James said calmly.

Dana cried. James smirked. They had only been married two weeks. It was as if James stepped out of his body and Satan stepped in. Dana had been saved seventeen years.

 How did I let this snake fool his way into my life? She thought.
(Present 1998)
“Well, what is it that you are doing that makes him fuss so much?”
“Listen Tameka, I told you, I don’t do anything. James acts like he hates me.  He was sitting at the dining room table this morning reading his bible before I left for church.”

 “Bitch”
“What did you call me James?”
“Bitch”

“I’m tired of you callin’ me a bitch, I’m on my way to church and you sitting there reading your bible out loud so the whole house can hear you, and call me a bitch. What are you reading your bible for, when you going to change?”
“Hoe.”
“The kids are awake, they can hear you.”
“Take em’ wit’ you, then, hoe.”

Dana slammed the door and ran to the car with tears streaming down her face. She raced to church to hear the sermon as if her life depended on it.

The sermon

Turn in your bibles to the book of Job, chapter one starting at verse six. (The preached begins to read)
One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord,
 and Satan also came with them.
The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”
Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”
Then the Lord said to Satan,
“Have you considered my servant Job?
There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless
and upright,
a man who fears God and shuns evil.”
 “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied.
 “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has?
You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has,
and he will surely curse you to your face.”

The Lord said to Satan,
“Very well, then, everything he has is in your power,
but on the man himself do not lay a finger.”
Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.
Have you considered my servant Job?
We all know the story of Job.
God said Job was a perfect man,
an upright man,
A blameless man,
one who feared God and ran away from evil.
Job even offered daily sacrifices for his children
just in case they may have sinned against God
and cursed him in their hearts.

The bible says
One day the angels of God appeared before God,
and so did Satan.
We know that Satan was not in heaven because he and his diabolical army, aha
had been kicked out of The Kingdom of Heaven
during his failed coup de ’tat.
God,
Omnipresent God, is able, aha
 to see in three dimensions;
 the third heaven
where God and the angels dwell,
the heavens, aha
where Satan and his princes dwell,
and the earth where man dwells.
Now I don’t want the women to feel left out, aha
we know that when the bible uses the word man
it is also referring to woman, or mankind.

Is anybody here
going through a test? aha
The bible says
And God ask Satan a question.
Where have you been, since your banishment?
What have you been doing,
since you are no longer the worship leader of the heavenly choir?
What’s up Satan?
God asked this question, but since he is Omniscient,
all knowing, aha
he already knew the answer, aha
He is setting Satan up
and he is setting one of his chosen up.
Are you chosen today? aha

Then Satan answered the Lord, and said,
from going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.

You see my brothers and sisters, aha
Satan, a fallen angel,
is walking up and down in the earth,
going to and fro.
Always in movement,
always wreaking havoc,
his mission is to destroy Godly seed
So he seeks the Godly, aha
day and night,
night and day,
looking for someone to destroy.
He wants to rid the planet of the seed of the woman that will crush him,
destroy him,
defeat him,
and topple his kingdom.
Satan is afraid of Godly seed.
I said , Satan is afraid of Godly seed
Always remember that!
He fears the Godly,
because he remembers his destiny.
The seed of the woman will crush your head,
this is the prophecy that was given to him way back in Eden.
How many of you have received a prophecy that you have not seen come to pass yet?
Don’t give up on your prophesy.
God’s word cannot,
will not fail,
as long as you trust him.
Somebody say amen

Amen! said the church in unison

 I Heard Timothy when he said
If we died with him,
    we will also live with him;
 if we endure,
    we will also reign with him.
If we disown him,
    he will also disown us;
if we are faithless,
    he remains faithful,
for he cannot disown himself.
The bible says
In the beginning was the word
and the word was with God
and the word was God.
Jesus is the spoken word of God,
Say amen somebody
he is the word of prophecy
and he will not disown himself, aha

In other words,
he will not deny his word,
he will not allow his word to return to him void,
Let the church say amen
Jesus will see to it that his word for your life is fulfilled,
if you trust him no matter what it looks like,
God
I said God
will see you through, aha

 The bible says that
God, Almighty God,
all knowing God
ask Satan a question, aha 
Have you considered my servant Job?
There is no one like him on earth,
he is blameless,
he is upright, he stays away from evil.
Have you considered Job?
Have you seen Job? aha
And the devil said, yeah.
I seen Job
 but you got a hedge around him
and I can’t touch him.
That’s why he fears you,
he knows you got him covered.
Just remove the hedge and when I’m finished with him,
he will curse you to your face!

And God said, give it your best shot but don’t lay a finger on him.

And my bible says
 that ole devil
Satan
Slew foot
didn’t wait one minute before he attacked Jobs children,
he killed all of them in one day.
Has Satan attacked any of your kids lately?
Dana found herself daydreaming about the day Faith was born.