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

"the musician"

i thumb into the atmosphere with sounds that grab for your ears
without retort, most my cohort is grabbing for beers
but with determination
i bend my lyrics 'cross the sky like mental murmuration
i earned the space in which i occupy healthy with my pal mic
new democracy—was does it sound like?
traipse on a wooded path, but march on the pavement with a look of wrath
'cause they want to frack fractions for a feuldal half with their crooked math
a fuel source to get us nowhere; a pipe with more oil for us
we bore holes into the boreal forest
and blow it out like there's no other way
we need it like the weekend needs another day
i'm hip to their gimmicks but immanently hypocritic
critical of myself and what i'm worth; my pulse echoes that of the earth's
an artist is what he's into—alive in his work
i lift the shade on the pain and you see through the window

this isn’t what i dreamed about when i was younger
the time is right now—hush the rain with the thunder
either get in the groove or get out the way
music is the way i make a change, watch the bodies sway
now i have a lot to say
this won’t be the one that got away—i promise me that
come all, listen. this jazz brew is what the casual listener’s missin’
it’s audible ambition for a perennial mission

sure is, and now i write to the beat with one earphone in
zonin'—is the musician right here?
pen alighted on sequestered carbon with an arm in too many things
and two helpings of hands, lose my stress with my fingernails
have an idea, but can't decide where i'm gonna put it
doubt provides fear with a place to hide
self-confidence mantra be: ‘you're good this way’.
like i'm riding shotgun and my side's clear
driven—i am what i create: a [beat]
feet happily flap on a mountain like Japhy
and i am what i'm into, litter go-getter
check the weather, collect feathers
reflect on whether i made the best so i can get better
the musician—a voice for an instrument
but intrinsically hip with simple scripts that fit, listen

so i stir it up
the mumbling musician’s on a quest to bring the seed to fruition
hey how’s being an environmentalist a distinct recognition?
‘cause if you love the planet say HELL YEAH
right on, and as i write on
i wonder why i flip the kitchen light on in the middle of the day when the sun’s out
how far have we swayed in this game we have to play?
i turn my music up but now instead i turn my energy the same way