25 September 2011

the whole reason to cross allen street is gone



back then
back when there was still a reason to cross allen street
                                            back before berlin
 when she was red bone
 from buffalo       
when she was h i g h yellow            

when it was  ‘if you’re not a staylow then you gotta go home
 and that means you too jared leto’

back then
        one night
                 one little night
i heard a man
        one man
                 a book man
the man from the book store

he was stammering  stomping like he was coming straight outtacompton
       
          spitting and bloodletting
relentless

the first word came first
it came right on the first stomp
it exploded
he said ‘participatory’
yeah  he said ‘participatory’
and then he said it again
and again
and again

until it rocked with an uneven white boy rhythm that took its cue
from when the stomp came down
and that alone

                                   he said it again               and again

‘participatory participatory participatory
participatory participatory participatory

democracy democracy democracy’

yeahyeahyeah
he said
‘participatory participatory
democracy democracy
participatory participatory
democracy democracy’


then some of us started saying it
        and then more of us started saying it

then it was back and forth

‘participatory’
                    ‘democracy’
        ‘participatory’
                                            ‘democracy’
                
the man  said
‘participatory’





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