Would U - Mutabaruka

Wen I speak

Do you feel weak

Wen you hear my thoughts

Do you feel caught in the web of hopelessness

Wen I say black

Do you feel its an attack

Or a lack of understandin' on my part

Or just wrath

Comin' from me do you see

Me

As a treat to your safety

Wen I say whitey

Do you consider dat bigotry

If I say I cared not about politics

Would you consider me an anarchist

If I say no to religion

Wold that be considered

An extension

Of my misconcepton

About what u think of me

Do you see what I mean

If I said I didn’t smoke

Or take coke

Would you take it for a joke

And cry then wonder why I told such a lie

Are you upset because my poems sometimes make you fret

About the future of things to come

Would you call me a brute

If I wore a suit

Or said I was cute

Do you think I would be a better writer

If my poems were lighter

Spoke more about nature

Or some adventure

That gave me pleasure

Would you love me more

If I spoke less about the poor

And talked about the women I adore

Now after listenin' to this

Are you lookin' for a twist

Or just another rhyme

In the next line

Thew solutions that you seek

Will not be in the streak

Of a pen or even ten line

Of mine

The problems are the same

But don’t blame me because I see

That part of reality

That pains

And stains the heart

I came into this life

With neither guns or knives

I made no laws

With all its flaws

About black and white

And whats wrong from whats right

I speak I write of what I see

Of men holdin' men in slavery

Of color class and greed

So don’t blame me if wen I speak

You do feel weak

I did not create

Tell me this now

Would u accuse me of causin' a riot

If I was

Quiet

Would you