There are not demons telling me to do it.
It is only me.
And that’s all there will ever be.
Just me.
I know the weight of it.
Know what it feels like in my hand.
Maybe I could stab it quick.
Maybe you could understand.
I’ll see it through to the end You see.
See it through.
Gritty nonstop hardness. Violence that spills into the street. Wine pouring to the edge of a glass. Broken glass from a storefront. Front street complete with break ins. Broken bones no simpletons.
“I’m a street nigga” he said, looked right through me. See through cats. Girls try to woo me. Pivot on back foot, grimey chimney soot. I’m strapped and ready for action. Now, gimme gimme more. Let the speakers blow. Let the people know. Wringing out the blood from your white tee. Ringing off hook phones. Hang up tones. Microphones spoken by street corner pastors. Snapped guitar strings.
Hang yourself with ‘em. Pawn shop diamond rings. Midwife bring ‘em. Did a deal with devil? Smarter than ‘em. Shame Lucy with Gucci. Now, gimme gimme more. Let the speakers blow. Let the people know. Put ya hands in the air! Freeze mo fucka Freeze. On ya knees mo fucka on ya knees. Beggin please mo fucka beggin please. For the cheese mo fucka for the cheese. Cardiac cats gunna seize. Askin god exactly what he sees. Shouldda got A’s stead of C’s. Asking Christ who he wanna be. Or is it me?
Bluetooth-fuck off-City
New-tunes -luck draw-gritty.
Not shitty. Now that’s Cincy.
There’s beauty in that pain. Can you feel it? Can you movie reel it? Ask em who the realest. Go ahead, ask em who the realest.
* * * * *
He steps into frame
Full of light, sword in hand
He walks slow
Because he is not afraid
Because he can
He is a warrior, yes,
but also a King
Like a President
and lowly worker
at the same time
The dark is day to him
He is the energy
from which the sun
draws inspiration
With a wave of holy
steel, he casts out the
darkness clinging to my
fragile mind then, He
turns it on the evil in you
He is a tower
made of deafening sound
He is the sound
that a sunrise makes
and thunder rains
that fill up the clouds
then the ponds
He showed me
what has possessed me
He even gave it a name
Then he cut it down
with a stroke that tore
the sky from the East
to the West
The prison,
the seemingly impenetrable fortress
is nothing to him
Nothing
He rips it into halves
this time with his mighty hands
and scoops me up
and you too
Run, He says,
Run as far as you can
from these things
This is no place for you
Come with me,
I’ll show you what real is
Tyler Strittmatter 