STAND OUT (collabo by Kwame Write and Princess Naki)

PRINCESS NAKI:

I stand out like the elongated neck of a giraffe,
You can spot me with binoculars while on an African Safari/
I stand out like a Soprano hitting any octave
Stand out so much that i'm the source of everyone's topic/
I can't stop this the way your eyes wander or your eyes ring and wonder
"Who is this Black Star" burning bright atop a flag pole, watch me wave as I heal souls/
I stand out like kenkey and tilapia on a menu, select me
Digest my words slow down your esophagus, wash it down with some meditation/
I stand out like bleach stains, predominantly destroying ignorance,
Let my words turn you from deaf to hearing/
Stand out like an unusual snow shower in mid-April
Stand out like humidity on HELL.../
I will burn you igniting the fire within to fuel the next generation/
Stand out like the black star in the middle of gold,
Red above, ever-green below, Let my poem unfold, do not fold, stand out BOLD/

/BRIDGE/
Not that I'm odd or feel to get even
But that's reason enough to believe in the meaning of me being me
SO stand out not cuz you're odd or feel to get even
But that's reason enough to believe in the meaning of you being you


KWAME WRITE:

Stand out like a peacock pride of feathers
Painted with rainbow kisses, spring out even though spring weathers/
Be the light like equatorial sun of day, be full like the moon that brings wolves out to howl for prey
I stand out like Tetteh Quashie with pockets smelling of raw cocoa
Like Yaa Asantewaa, when warmen become remote, control!/
This is no narcissism but genuine gusto to be adamantly prominent, conspicuous like a sore thumb
In a crowd of oppressors, I stand out like non-silent chants from raw gums/
There are more church goers than Christians each day
There are those who bear palm branches each given Palm Sunday
And others who view life through the holes in the Son of Man's palms, both sing the Son of Man's Psalms/
Stand out like a unicorn horn, like a bright kid with tattered uniforms on but has good grades
His Grammar was learnt in good faith by stroking a piece of stick on wet clay, a baobab tree offered porous shade/
Like Tommie Smith and John Carlos, Olympics 1986, when they wear cuffs of silence keep your hands out
Stand out like John Sweat Rock’s afro hair, like Mohammed Ali’s dare before a boxing bout/
Stand out like the black star in the middle of gold,
Red above, ever-green below, Let my poem unfold, do not fold, stand out BOLD/

(C)2011