I find it...ironic...
That they say "the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice"
But when it comes to black jellybeans, that ain't even the truth!
And I find it...ironic...
That Denzel Washington has played as everyone
From Reuben "Hurricane" Carter to Malcolm X
But it took him playing in the film "Training Day" as a corrupt
cop
For him to finally cop the Best Actor Oscar!
I find it...ironic...
That the reason more guys aren't NICE or POLITE
Is because NICE guys are NICE and DUMB enough
To do NICE things for DUMB girls who are DUMB enough
To make NICE guys feel DUMB for being NICE...
(...I guess that's why they say "No more Mr. NICE Guy"...)
And I find it...ironic...
That women embrace unrealistic ideals of what guys should be like
Based on sentimental love songs by the likes of Brian McKnight
Even though on the low, Brian McKnight may have given a black eye to
his WIFE...
I find it...ironic...
That if every African-American received a thousand dollar reparations
check today
They would probably still
Kill all one thousand of them dollar-dollar bills
To ride on chromed-out wheels
And rock some Tommy Hil...
And I find it...ironic...
That we villify the so-called "gangster" rappers for glorifying
drug
dealing
While we can't wait to get home and watch "The Wire"
So we can go "oh" and "aw"
Over the misadventures of Avon and Omar!
Now don't get me wrong:
"The Wire" is a good show, 'cuz
But I just want us to think about why we like it so much
Is it the good writing, or the hood fighting?
Is it the solid producing, or the violent shootings?
And if we lean toward the latter
In either of these matters
Then really, what's the difference between liking that
And liking the "gangster" rappers?
And don't even get me STARTED on these POETS...
...I mean, we get up and preach about "love" and "peace"
But we don't even speak to each other on the street!
For years we complained that poetry didn't have an avenue
For mainstream acceptance or attention
But now, as soon as we get it,
Look how much ego and ignorance came WITH it!
And I'm not impressed with poets who say they don't slam
Because they don't like the "competitive atmosphere" of the slam
poetry
Because you know what I have noticed, B?
All we've done is transferred the same "competitive atmosphere"
Over to the OPEN MIC scene!
Think about it:
If you're a quote-unquote "hot poet"
Especially if you have product to sell
You're not going to sign the open mic list to do something abstract
or new
You're gonna do something tried and true
So you get "ahhhh"s and "ooooohhh"s
Instead of sighs and boos.
Male poets say that we should respect all women
And we sound good saying it
But most of us treat women like shit
In our personal relationships.
And female poets complain at length
About the evils that men do
But don't even bother to commend the dude
Who HELD THE DOOR FOR YOUR ASS ON THE WAY INTO THE VENUE!!
I find all of this to be ironically bad news
Because POETS are TEACHERS
And if the TEACHER'S confused,
The whole CLASS is confused!
That's why I strive not to spit no bullshit from my poetic pulpit
Because ignorance by any other name IS STILL IGNORANCE
(Kind of like when they changed the name of the basketball team
From the Washington Bullets
To the Washington Wizards
Because they thought the first name was too violent
AS IF THE DISTRICT FRICKING ISN'T!)
See, there's too much hypocrisy that I can no longer ignore
So that's what I write for
And that's what I spit for
So pull on your galoshes
And wade through the nonsense
And you, too, might find some knowledge
That you, too, might find...
...IRONIC.
© 2002, Drew Anderson, all rights reserved.