THE ESSENCE
by Jeff Daverman
Taking time to check my mind, align and find my center
Between my ears I purge my fears, the wicked shall not enter (x3)
Every morning a greeting, the moments are fleeting
I’m alive and I’m jiving, my heart is a-beating
‘Make your lives extraordinary’ said Mr. Keating
The day is for seizing, the needs are for meeting
Let those heartbeats count to the fullest amount
To get the most from the life you are living
‘There is no try’, Yoda’s wisdom apply
‘Til you die you will get what you’re giving
With respect to Jackie Robinson, number 42
No telling what would happen when he pulled on the Dodger blue
He took the diamond, it was rough… what did he proceed to do?
He scaled the slope, instilling hope in more than just a few
Bigotry dealing with integrity healing
Rookie of the year and home plate stealing
Reaching for the heights and busting through the ceiling
I live eternal now because heaven is a feeling
I cannot tell you how, that’s for you to be revealing
Through every moment thick and thin
You choose to snooze or be born again
I believe in compassion don’t believe in sin
In order to cash in
On skills and grace I do depend
Encourage each human
Start with your heart,
Begin within
It’s not about apart
Illumination is your friend
They’re just like you, you’re just like them
Beyond religion
Orientation, Or the color of your skin
What goes down in Maricopa ain’t meant to be subliminal
Tent city full of brown, yet Arpaio is the criminal
Like chinese food if I’m in the mood
Dispense the sweet and sour
No time to wait or take the bait, deflate the hate this hour
Activate and saturate
And cultivate this flower
It’s far too dry the reason why
We need a monsoon shower…
Not sinking or shrinking, blinking or dour
Nonviolent Revolution is what has the power
Chanting down and will surround
The negative devour
Here to stay, we’ll find a way
From the Beastro to
Trump Tower!
Nonviolent Revolution is alive and keeps on growing
Conscious evolution threads the thriving of the knowing
From Susan B. and Mahatma Gandhi,
to Dr. King and Mandela we learn
Nader led to Occupy and now I know you Feel The Bern!
That’s what I’m talking about
Jamming poems I that I bring
Delivery unequivocally
Dropping news like Lakshmi Singh
Drop it in from deep just like I was Stephen Curry
To reach the peak is kinda steep, but Rasta Snail is in no hurry
May this critique wake those asleep and dissipate the worry
I do aspire to take it higher
And play with fire like Ray Bradbury
Flip on the light and out of sight watch the roaches scurry
Yes it might be kinda bright
But surely it ain’t blurry
Exposing truth like Edward Snowden
And ring them bells like Leonard Cohen
Teach the youth and so I’m showing
To whom this wisdom we are owing
Living into questions
Questions always apropos
I wonder and keep wondering
So I know that I will grow
You can question my suggestions
And you might just find the answer
That ignorance and prejudice
Are corrosive like a cancer
I’m grateful for my time and rhymes
This space of luminescence
Together shifting paradigms
As we move towards coalescence
I am grateful for your time and I
Am honored by your presence
Thank you for your attention
Now you’re covered
In ‘The Essence’