The Raving Poets - Roy Picou

There goes da neighborhood...........

when i was 8, i thought having 2 cars and a brickhouse was great.
i thought it would be all good,
2 live in a nice rich neighborhood.
i was the first black kid on the block,
my mom tried 2 prepare me 4 the emotional shock.
then 1 day it happened somebody pulled the trigger
and shot me in da heart with a bullet called NIGGER!
my heart turned in2 stone, i thought i just saw Medusa,
when out of nowhere appeared John Calamusa.
his eyes were glowing with JOY he transformed my day,
with 4 simple words. DO U WANNA PLAY!?
i felt my heart of stone turn in2 clay,
i felt like a flower that blossomed in May.

Now John Calamusa was WHITE and i am BLACK
and soon from our so called friends there came an attack,
John friends asked: y? do u play with dat PORCH MONKEY!?
and my friends asked y? u hang out with dat WHITE HONKY!?
Now 2 these ignorant questions we did not reply,
because only COWARDS didn't know y.

i remember asking my mom, mom what is a NIGGER?
she said it's something u're not because u are much BIGGER,
BIGGER than IGNORANCE, BIGGER than HATE,
u're BIGGER than all the blind racist that exist in this STATE.

well at the age of 24 i figured i would get some relief,
if i moved 2 the land of the great MAPLE LEAF.
so i moved from NEW ORLEANS 2 CALGARY and i know that sounds goofy
and 2 top it all off i even married a NEWFEE!
we were married 3 years, we even had our own place.
then 1 night she called me a NIGGER, and spit in my face.
she was drunk that night but her words still made me feel weak,
and i remember feeling her hot spit drip off my cheek.
i remember the word NIGGER slamming in2 me with CRUEL force,
and i remember calling my mom and telling her i'm getting DIVORCED.

a few years later, i was with my daughter and girlfriend,
when i got a BIG DOSE of CRUELNESS again.
we were walking down the street, when this lady looked at me and my daughter like we were trash
and i thought like THE HULK: THIS BITCH I MUST SMASH!
but something unexplainable held me back
because as sure as i'm BLACK her head i wanted 2 crack.
however,instead i was kept walking by
and deep in my heart i started 2 cry.

i've been beaten and battered because of my race,
i've been told we told want any NIGGERS in this place!
when i was 12 , i had a white cop but his gun 2 my head!
and say: DON'T FUCKING MOVE U LIL NIGGER OR U'RE DEAD!
i've been stomped and kicked and what was my crime?
4 BEING THE WRONG COLOR, IN THE WRONG PLACE AT THE WRONG TIME?
i've been accused of crimes that i didn't do,
i've been told: U BETTER WATCHOUT NIGGER, WE'RE GONNA GIT U!

BUT John Calamusa taught me that all WHITE PEOPLE are not DEVILS
and that any1 can learn 2 LOVE at a HIGH LEVEL.
he taught me not 2 pay much attention 2 RACE,
he demonstrated the GREAT POWER of WISDOM and GRACE.

Now i leave u today with 1 POWERFUL thought.
LET'S PAY LESS ATTENTION 2 RACE AND LEARN 2 LIVE FROM THE HEART!

LOVE NEVER FAILS BUT WE 2 OFTEN FAIL 2 LOVE.