Andre:There’s no solution to this confusion.
None that I can see.
We drag our nails where we have failed,
Instead of cutting free.
Laroque:Whatever, friend! I have no time
For this mess, right now.
You and I have got a rhyme
To finesse somehow
In the next two hours or we die.
Right now’s not the time to scour
Or to even question why.
These differences of ours?
I’m down for whenever.
But which one of us is
Gonna overpower
The mob when they come back in?
Are you that clever?
They will kill us both
Before we kill ourselves.
Then they’ll kill our families
For costing them money.
See just how unfunny this shit gets?
This ain’t just a couple hoods running game.
These fools retaliate on your friends and loved ones.
They be cutting holes into the sides of homes at night
If they have to.
They do not fuck around.
Fuck with them and you’ll be found.
Then they do that ground-and-pound
That resounds from here to kingdom come.
I’m done.
Andre:Maybe so. I guess so.
I don’t know.
Something’s gotta give.
My cuz was my rib.
Your crew. That shit they did…
Laroque:We do what we gotta do!
Just like you do, too.
If you knew what I knew,
Which I’m sure that you do,
You too would do what I’ve had to.
Why we are discussing
Baffles to the core.
Either fight; fuck all this fussing
Or let’s complete this chore.
Do we have a deal?
Andre:I suppose we do. Let’s go.
What should be the feel,
Fast or slow?
Laroque:I dunno. I hadn’t thought about it.
That’s rarely the way I go about it.
I think of what’s been on my mind
And use my words to unwind
Or unpackage, as it were,
Several similar concepts
In a way that serves to blur
How we form our precepts.
In this way, I really dig in
To my inner inner self.
Talkin’ bout that deep within:
Life completely off the shelf.
Andre:Boring to me, but whatever,
What’s been on your mind?
I suspect it will sound clever,
Which means difficult to find
The point the poet’s making,
Using hooks and catches.
True wisdom-faking
With insincere patches
Of wordplay meant to hook
Those who do not read books.
Laroque:Oh, my God! You saw right thru me,
Mothafucka, what’s your deal?
Are we here to set me free
Or to get our troubles sealed?
Reveal to me what you suggest
As a better option!
I’ll play host while you play guest.
I’ll start with “adoption.”
Andre:That’s a curious theme to me.
But, then, I can’t disagree
That it strikes a certain core
Deep within my soul
In a place ancient lore
Still controls.
In a place so foreign to
All our daily chores
Just to speak of is to bore into one’s core.
Laroque:Yes, indeed; I cannot lie:
That is where I’m coming from.
Deep within, where angels sigh,
There’s an ancient drum
Echoing as if a chamber
Has been opened
Just to change you.
Andre:You, I take it, were adopted
And are well-informed
On this topic I have opted
To learn about more.
Any less would not impress
Who we reason with.
You and I, I must confess,
Have no time for hit and miss.
Let us settle on this, then,
As the central theme.
I imagine I’d begin
By envisioning a meme
With an image to the point—
Touching contradiction.
This should hit just like a joint
Embracing willing fiction.
Laroque:Good enough. Start with some riffs
I can hang my rhyme on.
Something that hits a lil dif
And young ears can climb upon.
Something that will drop the bass
Like earthquake rubble.
Something that, for God’s sake,
Announces signs of trouble.
Something that will double-up the controversy
Bubbling up some sorcery
Deep in pedigree.
Andre:I can see that you be free
With your words unfolding.
Layer-up and player-up
With these words you’re molding
Young minds as well as old,
I’m sure you have been told
This more than once already
And choose not the firm and steady
Road leading to success.
But choose instead this mess
Which I confess
Has some allure at first,
But on probing introspection
One is worse for false reflection.
Laroque:Your quick rejection is
Cause for reflection.
Alone and free of situation
You seem to think with such negation
That even before you
Employ your latest idea
You are cutting it down
Like something to fear.
Oh, dear! I’ve said too much!
Here comes such-and-such.
Andre:What feareth thy? Quick reply
Or die ere I first cry
To them all reason why
You, my alibi, sought but to fry
Me at your first opportunity.
That should me free.
And another day I’ll live
To them help forgive
Me for my old transgressions,
One more chance to be refreshin’
All my past and current ties
In the community at large
Helping those whose nightly cries
Could unseat a barge.
We be there to help our own,
Unlike yours, that look to own.
Laroque:You be blown away
By some old hay,
Googling shit that goes your way.
Head-up-ass to this day!
We, too, are all about helping
Those whose nightly cries
Keep the puppies yelping.
You’ve been too much listenin’
To the glistenin’
Crap on FOX TV.
That’s why you can’t see
The truth.
THE END