Nuyorican Poets Cafe (Interlude)

Lyrics

[Intro: Khalik Allah] First off know me as Khalik Allah the psychotherapist Yo Peace Radamiz You are in accord with His Will You cannot fail because your Will is His Have confidence in your Father today And be certain that He has heard you and Answered you You may not recognize His answer yet But you can indeed be sure that it is given you And you will yet receive it [Poem: Radamiz] The elders in my family drink Johnny and reveal their insecurities They are movers of mountains with exhausted thumbs and a Santa Maria in each bedroom The elders in my family turn women into cooks, maids, Gods, caretakers of their failures And by default, amazing mothers My little cousins have been barefoot since birth and are motorcycle pros They feed me food from their soil and water from a downpour I am the grateful grandchild of Mama Rosa, Papa Berto, Mama Lucia, y Papa Florentino I am the grateful grandchild of the Tobaco y Ron, Tipico, Aguacate, and Vaporu Thank you for teaching me to ride horses as a newborn For sips of Corona as an adolescent And for beating me with: brooms, branches, books, and eventually, with the realities of this finite, glorious life The elders around me have passed but remain within me And consistently around me They wake me when I snooze on the responsibilities they have instilled For the world to know their names, accentos, and influence I am a brand ambassador of latino strength: Cafe Bustelo addicts, temporarily crippled, rehabilitating by way of prayer Nothing Changes if Nothing Changes And I am the change my elders require me to be Most people's legacies die in their diaries, so I change gracefully