Formidable Time

I'll tell a new story from way before time
Before the bards, and the scribes
And the rappers sold lines
Before duets and duels, when only crows rhymed
Before rules and guidelines
Before there was fuel to find
Before cruel mines, ideas of dual minds
Way before a pen would become a tool of mine
There was dark at the start, in the centre that burns
And a part of my heart, whispered and turned
To myself, and felt gifted with words
Questions asked gently and I listened to her
Became my vision to turn, got the urge to wake
So I woke and made fate
Then the moon did make waves
I made patience and faith, and last I made rage
For a time long away when my children would stray
When the weather would change
From the calm to the waves
And this song would get played at the dawn of an age

As I inch closer to that original rhyme
We all creep closer to a formidable time
This not typical, we have been given the signs
Of an earth that's livable, let the invisible shine

As I inch closer to that original rhyme
We all creep closer to a formidable time
This not typical, we have been given the signs
Of an earth that's livable, let the invisible shine

As I inch closer to that original rhyme
We all creep closer to a formidable time
Cities mired in grime, no rivers of wine
There's no swimming in the water
We have been given the signs
And I'll speak it loud, the truth from my root
From the highest cottonwood
To the dirt on my shoe
To the air in the booth, to the fires in the deep
At the centre of the Earth where the darkness speaks
Forget parting seas, I parted the stars
But dancing with galaxies
Seemed to harden my heart
So the moon challenged me
To water the dark
To see where the patterns be
And I went farther than art
And way deeper than seas
Through the crust to the start
Where the fire breathes
And the very dust is charged
With the sparks of generations
Waiting for revelation
They know what we've been facing
And they wait all in formation

As I inch closer to that original rhyme
We all creep closer to a formidable time
This not typical, we have been given the signs
Of an earth that's livable, let the invisible shine

As I inch closer to that original rhyme
We all creep closer to a formidable time
This not typical, we have been given the signs
Of an earth that's livable, let the invisible shine

See I was bought and sold, auction blocked and told
To forget my name, I was brought to the fold
The churches of invaders, slave owners, and rapists
But I sang sweet and low
And I breathed with the sacred
I carried the water and I waited so patient
For these days to come
When my people awaken
To stand toe to toe with forces in black vests
To circle palm in palm, and pray for the best
For every generation, every colour and creed
To know in my being
That we all live downstream
Black snakes under waves, coil and bend
And under earth, oil's said, to foretell the end
But that colour, red, in the dust underfeet
Says to stay calm, drum beats
And breathe deep
And as we stand hands locked at the 11th hour
I know the people will remember their power

As I inch closer to that original rhyme
We all creep closer to a formidable time
This not typical, we have been given the signs
Of an earth that's livable, let the invisible shine

As I inch closer to that original rhyme
We all creep closer to a formidable time
This not typical, we have been given the signs
Of an earth that's livable, let the invisible shine