Original rap/poetry by Larry Montague. Copyright © 2012 Larry Montague. Permission required for reproduction.

"forward, in harmony"

i awoke from a shallow sleep with formed fist
streams of thought groove where i wallowed in dreams
with increased acknowledgment, seeped in confidence
wading in the delta of day i’m not even sure what college is
and these words have me worried
the way that they frame it is blurry
i lose out finding myself in a hurry
what’s another piece of paper?
my work will make the world a better place before i put it on my resume
culture and race we’re supposed to celebrate
but one degree of separation ensures the world will never change
it’s ever-strange how the circle gets smaller and still doesn’t spin right
the shadows of our cities get taller
we sprawl into the last wild places
few and far are the smiles on faces, buried this one in a book
piles of pages and life’s all about milestones and phases
so you gotta dig the message
trees eat our messes and turn them to color
nourishing life as well as wonders to discover
seven generations full of brothers—i’m trying to do right by them
but how can i once the pipeline’s in?

put your hands in the dirt. forget green-washin
it’s time to make noise, there is no other option
get real: everything is not copacetic
we shall not continue without a land ethic
progress is opposite technology traps
what good is that without a blank spot on the map?
preservation means timeless, everyday’s Earth day
we need to rewrite the world in the worst way

so hear that story unfold
it’s two brothers making music from opposite sides of the continent and toward a goal
different coasts, still full speed ahead and well fed
off the pirated jams that we chop and re-blend
i’ve said a lot already, i used to suck
it was 04 and comments were saucy like a pot of spaghetti
i popped the top off the plot but the bottle was empty
at twenty-four there’s still no one dropping confetti
but it’s autumn nights
the beats get delivered hard in case you ignore the writes
like cops with wicked wedgies and leathermans
i’m better than the me of 2010, i reinvent
and still intent on being diligent, i never mill around
i got the will and wit to fill in the script with intelligent quips and relevant blips
say to hell with the rips—i’m not gonna buy that
this is occupyRAP and i’m still in a tent
one-hundred percent of my music’s an ill-legitimate child of self-improvement
fluent how do you do it? practice.
i’m holdin hopes high for a white nature-nut
feel the ones who paint it black are steady rolling stones uphill
under my thumb is the pen i get the power from
loud but the sound’s unplugged—figure that one
you show love, i give it back when i’m done
i turn my back to the grid and take a step toward the sun
forward, in harmony