Sometimes ya jus’ gotsta put ‘cho game face on, nah’mean? Ya gotsta jus’ look somebody in dey eyes an’ be somebody sides yo sef. De troof shall setchu free, dey say, but sometime de troof gotsta be locked down fo’ a minute while ya deal wit dis here, right here, right now. De troof on lockdown. But ‘chu gotsta deal widdit sometime, right? De worl’ don’ stop turnin’ fuh nobody, no how, no way, no suh. At leas’ not til’ dat day when God cum back roun’ dis way. In dis worl’, some’a us lie sometime jus’ ta get by. Some’a us lie cause we feel we gotsta. Mama wanna know if dem greens hit de spot an’ you cain’t tell her dey be runnin’ through you like a freight train! It jus’ don’ work dat way! Ya still gotsta get ‘long wit’ folks and jus’ livin’ makes ya say thangs an’ do thangs dat ‘chu don’ wanna do, but at de same time, ya kinda gotsta, nah’mean? Der be folks too dat lie cause it done got good to ‘em. Dey do it all de time, to everbody, jus’ cause dey can. It be fun to ‘em, an’ even more den dat, it be done become part of ‘em. Dey be lyin’ ‘bout what time dey got up dat mornin’, what dey had fo’ lunch, who sed what ta whodiwho an’ who dey shackin’ up wit’ too! An’ dey do it jus’ cause dey can. Folks like dat is behind-front mixed-up fuh’sho’, but mos’ times, dey don’t be hurtin’ nobody but dey selves, God willin’. Den der be doze folks dat be lyin’ up sumpin’ harmful. Ever word dat cum out dey mouf’ is pain, spit up from someplace hidden, deep ‘side dey selves. Dey eyes be scary, lookin’ thru a body like twaren’t nobody der’. Der be sumpin’ wrong widdem so deep dat der ain’ t no makin’ it right. Sumpin’ dat make ‘em dif’rent from most’a us. I figger mos’ folks got a lil’ thang inside dat talk to em, nah’mean? Let’cha know when we right, an’ let’cha know when we wrong, too. We be ignorin’ it mos’ times but it be der all de same. My daddy tol’ me dat deys Demons walkin’ roun’ dis here Earth, right ‘longside us normal folks. Dey look like us, smell like us, act like us too, mos’ times. But dey ain’t us. Dey’s damned, jus’ like ol’ Lucifer an’ his potnahs back in de bible days. Chose de ways’a de worl’ ova de ways’a God. My daddy sed dey is doomed ta walk de Earth til’ God cum back roun’ dis way. Dem folks wid nothin’ ‘hind dey eyes ain’t like us. Dey b’long ta de Devil, heart an’ soul, jus’ like dem fallen Angels. Prolly related to ‘em somehow, might even be dem, far as I know. Some folks ya jus’ don’ mess wit an’ ya know who dey be. Dey be havin’ money, power, strong in de thangs’a dis worl’. Tellin’ everybody how ta live dey lives an’ all. Watch out what’chu wish fo’ an’ who ya ask fo’ it. Some’a us ain’t us, when you thank ‘bout it. I reckon looks mean less den a lil bit when it comes ta tellin’ who a Demon an’ who ain’t. Dey may be crackas, niggas, red injuns or even some’a dem yalla folks from cross de water, but dey sho’ ain’t us. Some’a us be dem. De las’ thang my daddy tol’ me fo’ he passed from dis’ worl’ ta da nex’ I ain’t neva forgot. He sed ta me, ‘Son, thangs in life ain’t fair an’ folks’ll rob an’ cheat’cha jus’ ta get by. De only words dat I kin say dat’ll las’ ya pas’ my dyin’ day is make sho’ dat ya always pray an’ ya betta watch yo soul til’ God cum back roun’ dis way.’
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Reviewed by Elizabeth Taylor
7/17/2006
It is amazing how you can write like this. The patois is incredible.
Way to go. This requires more than one reading to really glean all the treasure out of it.
Hey Mark,
This is so true, I know what ya mean about the demons. I also liked the way you wrote it, gives it a real voice. Your message is a beacon in the smog of greed and self absorbtion.
~Many Blessings, Shell
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