that’s the answer
to most of our questions.

hunny, do i how to
come down if i’m always high
in heels, pills, sex, and booze?
you don’t sweetie.

sweetie, do i love you
if every time i meet a woman
like that (you know, like that)
i have you on my arms?
you don’t hunny.

and on, and on
we tear each other down
it’s our love language

it keeps us together
it keeps us undone

and any trick that steps to me ’bout her man
better watch her knees, before i break ’em

and i’ll try but i won’t, can’t stop myself
from really hurtin’ her by letting her know that
me and her man fucked again last night
laughed again last night, ’bout how curvy she ain’t
’bout how ugly she is

without makeup
as i wear makeup

as i’ve worn makeup
to mask these eyes pops gave me
as he was toughening me up

tough like the black-and-blue leather belt
around my girl’s man’s neck
after he came over, to cum over me
’cause he thought we were gonna
do something or something
for free?!

so he had to get jumped

like how these feelings jump me
when my guard’s down and shit
and they ask, “do you want to be loved?”

by whom nigga?! ’cause men ain’t shit
but a tongue, a dick, and a trick
who thinks she knows her man better than i do

and my man’s friends ain’t shit too
’cause hot girl shit means knowing
every man in my DMs wanna do me like he do
and my man ain’t the hottest in the crew

and you know it’s fuck what you do
it’s where you’re from
and i’m from a house momma couldn’t stand any longer
so she left me alone

and you know it’s fuck who you screw
so where’re your arms
give ’em here, empty your pockets
of more than condoms you’ll never use

and you know it’s watch your p’s and q’s
or these feelings will jump you, like i do
when i find out you’re dumb enough to love me
more than i do

more than they do, your taller friends

and i’ll try but i won’t, can’t stop myself
from really hurtin’ you by letting you know that
me and your friends fucked again last night
laughed again last night, ’bout how ugly you are
’bout how far back your hairline starts

’cause if i don’t deserve to be loved, why do you
get to feel comfortable in your skin, in your man’s walk
that poppa taught me how to emulate just for fun

and poppa made me walk with a lean more than once
and i used to cry, but i don’t anymore ’cause i ain’t no bitch
’cause i ain’t his bitch

but these feelings keep jumping me
every time i put the knife i used to kill him down

don’t talk too much
don’t smile too often

don’t express your inner universe
with your eyes

and don’t laugh with joy
while complimenting everyone

or the average woman will assume
you’re gay, but closeted

and they’ll friend-zone you
with the kind intention of being
that one friend
that you confide in

and since you mostly can’t
won’t, change a woman’s mind
once she’s made it up

it’s best to avoid them
being wrong about you
and your sexuality

in the first place

but, all of that
all of this is a lot

easier as a man
if you don’t care about
what women think of you

this isn’t a movie

just ask any woman
who’s learnt not to care
about what any man thinks
of her

the second lesson on courtship

men ain’t shit, so

easy women have been hurt and broken
hearted by a couple of men

so they’ll let you in
but they’ll never let you in
because they can’t anymore

average women demand
the fantastic praises of
i love yous

because that’s what
the books they read and
the movies they watch demand
of their self-love

but fantasy is fiction and
fiction is a lie, and you’re too busy
truthfully focusing on you

for a truthful courtship

so, since you’re trying not to lie
it’s best that you avoid the latter
the average woman

which is easier said than done

just focus on easy women
who don’t care about the chase

even if they’re far in-between
even if their hearts are a bit colder
than yours
even if their smiles never reach their eyes

and if you find an average woman
who’s not bitter
and who’s not looking for love

hold on to her
but not too tightly

because you don’t have time
for anything but self-love

and you don’t want your actions
to say that you have more of that
to give than you do

since a false promise is still a lie

the third lesson on sex

don’t believe in romance fantasies
like Bridgerton
women hit on men more
when they’re in a relationship

men ain’t shit, they’re easy
and it’s easier to have sex with women
if you’re in a relationship

and willing to lie
than if you’re single and truthful

yes, a lot of people are single
and truthful
but even more are in relationships

and like facing unemployment

getting out of a relationship
when we don’t have another one
set up to catch us scares us

so more than just some of us
in dead relationships cheat
and those who cheat cheat
with someone else who’s
in a relationship

because of the certainty of it

everyone having something to lose
if the truth comes out
eases the anxiety in air

and it’s a lot easier to have sex
if there’s a lie in the air

so if you’ve chosen the unnecessary burden
of not having lies as your wingman
then be prepared to go without sex

luckily though, you’re focusing on you

and luckily again, trusting a new man
another man, is hard for women

so a lot of the women you’ve been with
will answer those midnight texts

even if you’ve hurt them

by letting them know that
you don’t have time for love
and all that it entails

i told you
“leave your city forever
and i’ll love you for just as long”

and, finally, that wasn’t too much to want

you’re easy like shy weather
i wanted to stay for you and so i did
and i didn’t know i knew how

you’re easy like four-leaf clovers, like morning dew
like not believing my luck while holding you

like holding the body of your guitar, my fingers warm
electric notes rising like hair as i play you with my tongue
your legs like spread wings amidst the angels’ choir
my teeth biting into peaches that shame even Eden’s pears

it’s blasphemous but even God would pause to stare
time standing still as you moan and swear
but like midnight prayer

and like laughter during sex
you make it easy to want more of you
and for that i love you

let me make love to you

…like Zimbabwe?

nah, like

you yelling “yes, yes, yes!”
king and queen, sex like chess
sex like contests of transgressions
never-ending sessions of concessions
with breaks for food

strawberries, champagne, and cashews
you came, i came too, on you
two too many to’s turn into threes after review
but plans with your boo fell through

now we’re cuckoo in the strip club on a wednesday
me yelling “ay bay bay, ay bay bay, let’s jay!”
you already midway through your match play
already sweet and slaying like tooth decay
and the DJ sways, plays reggae for our getaway

now it’s sweat like petty cash, hair like whiplash
your breaths catch while your nails scratch
threesomes like a world wrestling match
flasks to eye masks tell of the time passed
shit! i gotta go

yes now, i was late an hour ago
i dunno, lay low or use a dildo
or hop on this metro with your afterglows

so here i am, textin’ you about street food
about eating eggplant tacos in your swimsuit
about your vegan views amidst servitude
oops, hang on, hold still

there’s sauce on your lips, something spicy or sweeter
my fingers enter your mouth as you pull me in deeper
you winking, me taking care like a miss demeanour

palming extra napkins, like scraps of grace
catching passion crumbs of faith
like dinner and movie and a walk to your place

like “hey, u wanna watch Breathless or Scarface?”
when all i can think about is

being too busy for subtexts and cigarettes
your thighs on my shoulders, my hands on your breasts

• The smartest person in the room isn’t trying to show off how smart they are, they’re trying to be liked despite the fact that they’re smart.
• The most attractive person in the room isn’t trying to show off how attractive they are, they’re trying to be liked despite the fact that they’re attractive.
• The richest person in the room isn’t trying to show off how rich they are, they’re trying to be liked despite the fact that they’re rich.

So, you know, don’t trust show-offs. Trust the inner child.

i used to think that
she was a better revolutionary
than james baldwin,
than richard wright,
than w.e.b. du bois.

because when they left america
for france and ghana
she stayed.

she stayed,
and fought,
and as her eyes watched god
she told us that,

“no hour is ever eternity,
it has its right to weep.”
so weep for an hour.

but this hour is long,
and the day’s light can’t save us.

i don’t know what to think anymore.

there’s too much pain here.

where do you go when even
paris threw copper coins at coltrane
the first time he played?

The story about the Tower of Babel is pretty historically accurate when you realize that before Judeo-Christianity came onto the scene people weren’t that patriotically attached to their own deities.

Basically, gods and cultures weren’t connected. “The one you call Pluto, we call Hades. The one you call Krishna, we call Herakles,” the Greeks said under Alexander the Great as he conquered Central Asia, “We’re all speaking the same language at our core.”

All of that changed when Exodus 20:5 was written down:

“You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me.”

Before that was written you’d have a hard time telling apart someone from the time of polytheism and someone who now says, “I’m not religious, just spiritual – I will always believe in a higher power.”

I nerd out about great business strategy so this isn’t a bash on Judeo-Christianity in any way, quite the opposite. As John Gray wrote, “Modern politics is just a chapter in the book of religion.” And it can be argued that modern business is as well.

Us humans are religious animals, and we’re not the only primates who are. Even elephants are religious, so who in their right mind would hate on someone using science to reach us at the core of what we are and always will be? That’s just being smart. Apple Inc. could learn a thing or two from Judeo-Christianity.

Or, you could say they already did. We all did actually. Listen closely the next time an app or website makes it harder for you to leave or to watch a video on another website, you can practically hear the AI-gods in the machine whispering, “Stay, you shall not bow down to them or worship them…”

As someone once joked, “When YHWH/Jehovah said I am the one true god all of the other gods died laughing.”

Because this is all about not having competition. You can’t have someone all to yourself without first telling them that you’re the one, and that talking to others is wrong. You can’t have someone all to yourself without being jealous.