hey poppa
look at that airplane flying way over us
did i come to america on that one
or maybe that one i like the color blue
i remember how you would smile
and look far away
id ask what was wrong and you would
give me a stick of gum to chew
i can still see those friday nights
driving to the bazaar of all nations
you and momma fussin over which way
the wind would blow
guess i was about 12 years old
when i started diggin that secret cave
way too young to feel the cold
of the summer snows
i wanted to help you poppa
so i made up my mind one night
fidgeting in my eagles pajamas
im gonna be the best darn kid
there ever was and make you proud
but ever was became a neverland
seems you had buried too many skeletons
back in that barbadian sand
i see you sittin at the kitchen table
nursing a canadian mist thinking about your little girl
calling me over and saying
boy my diana was a pearl
you would start crying and i would think
maybe god took her away
knowing this family drama she couldnt survive
and replaced her with a boy named after you
whose soul would be bruied alive
well i etched my name in that old sycamore bark
wandered through cobbs creek
way after dark
seems my entire life
ive been searching for a counterpart
in the ramparts red glare
i take a sip of cutty sark
thinkin i will never erase tthe stain
of my daddy mark
to hell with it
poppa
them teenage years were something else
for the first time in my life
i knew how good being evil felt
nothing you could do
not a thing momma could change
by then id long since stopped feeling
the joy of watching the flying planes
so when i spoke to people
i talked alot but revealed nothing at all
excavation of my cave was completed
so i erected a replica of the berlin wall
separating my good from evil
crossing over from time to time
thinking how i wish i was my older sister
buried back in that caribbean clime
seems that anger became
an essential part of me
it felt like trapped magma
in a volcanic chamber
so i spit on my memories of living in a ruthless world
pissed on a cross and burned my thoughts
of a baby christ in a manger
poppa why do folks get married
till death do us part
knowing full well the devil
aint that easy to outsmart
yeah cee really tried to penetrate
the layers of hatred on my soul
i remember her saying for years she cried
when i left the house
thinking someone is gonna hurt dee or be hurt
maybe a foolsih stranger or an angry police patrol
well i etched my name in that old sycamore bark
wandered through cobbs creek
way after dark
seems ive been searching my entire life
for a counterpart
in the ramparts red glare
i take a sip of cutty sark
thinkin i will never erase the stain
of my daddys mark
to hell with it
poppa
i have a new life built out of the old debris
i know you loved your daughter in law
but she got beat down mentally
you see i tend to get sullen and quiet
then retreat into my secret cave
over the years no one has entered
except maybe one or two men
who were obviously depraved
yeah i have buried alot of love
for what its worth
prayed to three or four different versions of god
still cant escape the curse
so now i get emotionless and look to the heavens
then spit on the killing floor
kill myself softly and the next day
wake up for more
these people i met like the way
i express my art
a few have gotten kinda close
but i stopped them short of my heart
you see poppa them walls i built
were starting to come down incrementally
until the drama started and i realized the colony
was just another ghetto reality
i cant cry like you did poppa
seems im short of salt
guess i forgot to replenish
the last time i cleaned out my mental vault
momma is always huggin me
telling me keep my eyes on the sparrow
i cant admit to her my eyes cant adjust to the light
for too long ive been living in the shadows
well i etched my name in that old sycamore bark
wandered through cobbs creek
way after dark
seems ive been searchin my entire life
for a counterpart
in the ramparts red glare
i take a sip of cutty sark
thinking i will never erase the stain
of my my daddys mark
..so to hell with it