Spoken Word: “BLUE LIGHT” DROP

Get out the way y’all
Get out the way y’all
THE PRESIDENT just got dropped!

…OFF / at the palace / chilling in his chariot / sipping from his pimp cup / tinted windows all up / AC blowing out a cool breeze exclusively flowing for these sweaty VIPs / while I get squeezed out of my lane tryin ta maintain my own way my own direction / gotta make way for the presidents erection…

here come the cavalcade / blue light brigade /

haven’t seen this parade since the days of Roman lanes when the Emperor was followed by his freshest slaves while the people all showered him with popular praise /
Africa and Europe come from some similar days / making way for the presence of pride / we swop the Kings carriage out for a German ride / Mercedez amaze these / wonder who’s inside? / must be some big shots! / big enough to squeeze us aside on the way to the top spots /

give ‘em room / we can’t make them late / VIP / got somewhere important to be / but it doesn’t matter how much room we make / the people on the other end still will wait /

for f*ck sakes / this is what it takes to be a Lord / be adored by the masses / you know you’ve scored / when you can crush the crowd / push the people out the way / VIP all day singing TIA till it’s judgement day…and the scales have to sway…till they tip on you fat cats…start to pray…
coz a ride ain’t nothing but a throne on wheels / check it starts looking good for those who know no meals /
so now the poor man feels that he needs to own those wheels /
so he holds cold steel and steels his soul to steal /
but he’ll never bust through the VIP protection so he aims at another brother from his section / he caps a connection coz hunger abounds / pounds the ground / feet meet street / running when the siren sounds /

now he’s running for his life for his freedom to survive / he took another mans life / crime keeps him alive / so he’s robbing and stealing like the leaders he knows / the only difference between them is the cut of their clothes /
coz orange or Armani a suit is still a suit / Selebi or Mdluli / poison root poison fruit /
so he’s running from the sound of his heart beat drumming / the sound of the siren quickly coming / but it’s not the cops / that’s too much to ask / it’s just another f*cking blue light going past…

Get out the way y’all
Get out the way y’all
THE PRESIDENT just got dropped!

…OFF / at the palace / chilling in his chariot / sipping from his pimp cup / tinted windows all up / AC blowing out a cool breeze exclusively flowing for these sweaty VIPs / while I get squeezed out of my lane tryin ta maintain my own way my own direction / gotta make way for the presidents erection…

I won’t stand for the presence of the president / according to the party the President should stand for me / see these VIPs how they squeeze through the cities / pockets fat / skin thin / sleazy breed /
See I / see no need for the Blue Light goons / if they weren’t so fat they wouldn’t need all that room /
see they / freely consume all the space that it takes / putting belts on loose on an oversized waste /
see them / standing in line for a VIP ticket / bring that Blue Light / let me show you where to stick it…

[I prepared this piece for Poetry Africa 2012. I was reading under the auspices of DENNIS BRUTUS, a South African activist and poet who remained a stalwart of many struggles until he passed in 2008.]