Said the Monk to His Earbuds

Posted bySynnika Alek-Chizoba LoftonPosted incommunity, mailbox weekly, Poems

Beats by Dre
hurl gritty street
anthems.

Nipsey Hussle.
Jim Jones.
Jeezy. K-Dot.

Motivation
is a strange
addiction.

Speed and
altitude are
objectives,

pushing farther
into concrete
oblivion, keeping

the circuit
board CLEAN,
like the only

way to live
is by BOLD
declarations

and aggression
and pain and
suffering and

more PAIN.
Climb them hills
till lungs beg

for mercy.
Muted aggression
feels natural.

“We love sacrifice,
right? Some highs
require blood,”

he says. Some
highs require men
to smile,

while balancing
shifting weight
on American

tightropes.
Death is real.
A breath.

Crash Out
tips his hat.
He knows

the vibes.
Wounds open.
Just to annoy.

Just remixes
from yesterday.
“They are not

like us,” says
the Monk to his
earbuds.

Sky wakes,
emerging from
some distant

design. Revolt
is a soulful
motto. No

other way to
play it. This
thing doesn’t

evolve. This
thing growls.
Mr. Monk walks

the surreal earth,
with a big boot,
with a large

stick, with a poor
disposition. This is
how his cageless
day begins.

THANKS FOR READING! CLICK ON THE IMAGE BELOW AND DONATE TO THE CAUSE! KEEP THIS CONTENT FREE!

Published by Synnika Alek-Chizoba Lofton

"Synnika Alek-Chizoba Lofton is an award winning poet, the president and CEO of Guerrilla Ignition LLC, host of a Nationally Syndicated radio show, and an educator, teaching literature at Chesapeake Bay Academy and English courses at Norfolk State University. Lofton has recorded more than one hundred and fifty CDs, albums, CD-singles, and mixtapes of poetry, including his highly praised debut, The New Breed. He is the author of twelve books and the founder of Riot Speech, a musical genre combining performance poetry with traditional musical forms, such as Rock, Jazz, and Hip Hop. His poems have been published in Experience Reality Magazine, Quay: A Journal of the Arts, UpStreet: A Literary Magazine, and, in 2014, Lofton has been featured in Blind Sided Magazine. He is a regular on Virginian television programs such as The Hampton Roads Show and Chesapeake’s Thinking Out Loud on WCTV. He teaches World Literature, British Literature, and Composition, while touring the country, performing at literary festivals, musical festivals, poetry readings, open mics, concerts, high schools, and colleges."

Leave a comment