Let Them Down Easy

Let Them Down Easy

When looking for a man
They say judge his inner worth
By how he treats the woman
Responsible for his birth
I was not looking
But you propositioned anyway
So I am forced to assess you, Rude bwoy
In the aforementioned way

Would your mother be proud to be
The one who birthed a boy who sucks and soots at me
And every pair of tits and ass you see
Will it warm her heart souljah boy
The way you treat women like toys
Buy, use, break, throw away
Is your dear mother truly proud
Of your utterances lewd and loud
That your brain is fogged by a cloud
Incapable of empathy
Barely penetrated by knowledge
Quick to anger but slow to quiet courage

You see, I have no time or energy to be a mother to you
And finish what she didn’t and what you didn’t care to do
Tell me, if I birthed you would my heart soar to call you son
Or would I secretly wish to be mother to another one
I am looking for someone who can be complement to me
A grown-up love with shared strength in our individuality
And by that measure, dear rude bwoy it is clear to see
I will have to let you down easy

When looking for a man
They say, judge his inner worth
By how he treats the woman
Responsible for his birth
I was not looking
But you propositioned anyway
So I am forced to assess you, Rastaman
In the aforementioned way

You call me your African Queen
But Mother Africa you have never seen
In Mama Oshun’s bliss you’ve never been
You speak of Jah and Israel’s twelve tribes
Nomadic children living out their lives
Unaware their Divine Mother survives
Despite all your ‘conscious’ sweet talk
For Mother Earth you don’t walk the walk
Because you do not even remember the Goddess
That your ancestors were forced to suppress
You are a derivative of Judeo-Christian dominionist
Still eager to exploit Her goodness

You only call me Queen so you can rule as my King
With aboslute entitlement to the gifts that I bring
If you knew that the feminine was equally Divine
You would not ask me to take a lower position at your side
I am looking for someone who can be complement to me
A grown-up love based on shared respect for our equality
So Rastaman, it is clear to see
I will have to let you down easy

Colonialized

Colonialised
Anesthasized
Programmed to stand on the side lines
And criticize
Before we try
Attempt to fly
We already fail
Excuse and bail
Ourselves out
We love to pout
Turn up we mout
At who brave to enough to shout
And put their foot in their mout
Unafraid if they’re whispered about
By coward louts

Colonialized
Paralyzed
Quick to bring people down to size
Cause we small
Cyah stand tall
Afraid to fall
Always against a wall
A prison for our mind
Ignorant and unkind
Desperate for a piece
Without inner peace
To settle the belly
So it always hungry
And easily upset
By what we cyah get
Eye big big still we cyah see
The demon inside we
Warping our beauty

We colonialized
Self-demonized
Bred to ostracize
Genius, talent, bravery
A seed of long term mental slavery
Is what the powers planted in we
Independent nations
Still surreptitiously supplanted
While population is distracted
Maljoing, macoing and mauvalanging
Scrambling for a place
Based on color or race
Family name and face
Instead of acumen
And every now and then
When a flower pushes through the cracks
We stomp it back cause we
Colonialised
Marginalized
Programmed to steups and roll up our eyes
And criticize

© Jessica Joseph