Tree of Knowledge

Arthur42Dent · Post by **Arthur42Dent** » Tue May 06, 2003 7:03 am

"I am a construct of your world. Deep rooted, polluted, tortured/
Abused and altered. I just caught ya'...
Eve's dropping.
Adam's rising...
To pluck the fruit from off the branch reaching out to touch your inner drive/
Cut me open and count the rings inside to see how long I've been alive/
Containing forms of records about the types of storms I've weathered/
Leave a stump for kids to carve initials as long as I'm remembered/
But lessons go forgotten, plus you don't believe a thing/
Never listening to the whispering of my leaves in the wind/
When the breezes begin, you're just concerned with flying kites/
Until I tangle up your child's play and get you climbing heights/
You're still relucant to hear me out...admiring the sites?
You have no idea what it was like being nailed to Christ.

You're swinging from the twigs and limbs they used to hang your siblings/
have respect you selfish, self-centered, sack of manmade buildings/
I was the original pinnacle, but now I'm nothing to you but kindling?/
Tickling inhibitions, I'm naturally attracting children/
Who have a funny idea of what "4-eva" is/
I witnessed the first time lips kissed with stripped innocence/
Not too long after that...was I supplying shade/
For a man caressing silverbacks...trying to get laid/
Monkeying around and now they're all dying of AIDS/
Government guerilla tactics? That's a farce. I bring the plagues.
Cancer? thats just icing on the cake I nurse and feed ya'/
Because you drained me of my sap with taps of perversed procedure/
I hold your family background right down to the first ameoba/
Watched you grow from just crustacean to a land mammal. It hurts to leave ya'/
But I've had enough. And it'll be very relieving/
Just who do you think supplies the air you're breathing?/
Humongous oxygen tanks? As if its all free?
Wondering where your dogs are at? They're barking up the wrong tree/
Wanting proof of identification, but I existed before fingerprints/
Cognitive Dissonance. I hear chain saws in the distance/
"if a tree falls in the forest and nobody's there to hear it/
Does it make a sound?" I'll go down quietly...but you'll feel it/
Still these six-legged thoughts keep eating away at my inside/
Until I'm nothing but hollowed out hide.

The dead tree is still standing.

Here comes the hunting axe of lumberjacks
who I attract like lightning when the thunder cracks.
I can't run from the facts.
I'm under attack.
I see...nothing but black.
Finally...I slumber and relax"

- Sage Francis

lizzytysh · Post by **lizzytysh** » Tue May 06, 2003 3:50 pm

Dear Arthur....

I was about to give you massive credit for this poem until I saw its author. Now, I can only thank you immensely for bringing it here. I can't even speak to all the truth in what it says. So, simply, thank you.

~ Elizabeth

witty_owl · Post by **witty_owl** » Tue May 06, 2003 4:00 pm

Perhaps a bio-chemist can help me out here? I seem to recall hearing somewhere in my recent past that the chemical structure of chlorophyll is remarkably similar to that of hemoglobin. The ancestral links are not that far away.
Regards,

lizzytysh · Post by **lizzytysh** » Tue May 06, 2003 4:06 pm

I'm not in the least surprized if that is true, Witty.

Arthur42Dent · Post by **Arthur42Dent** » Tue May 06, 2003 6:28 pm

Believe it or not that's from a rap song.

I'll post my own poetry here some day.

lizzytysh · Post by **lizzytysh** » Tue May 06, 2003 7:04 pm

I believe it. An excellent case in point for my argument that there are a number of rap songs with excellent content! Look forward to your own entries, if this represents what you deem of merit.

~ Lizzytysh

Is Sage Francis the name of the group?

Arthur42Dent · Post by **Arthur42Dent** » Tue May 06, 2003 10:18 pm

No, that's his name (real name Paul Francis)

He's in a group called "Non-Prophets" and they have an album comming out this fall called "Hope". It's gonna be amazing.

Pete · Post by **Pete** » Tue May 06, 2003 11:50 pm

I really enjoyed this poem and then you say it is from a rap song and I don't like rap and now I'm all confused

Pete

lizzytysh · Post by **lizzytysh** » Wed May 07, 2003 1:30 am

Wow, Arthur......the album title reenforces the song you quoted, with their way of thinking. That's a rap album I'd purchase, by the sounds of it.

Pete....perhaps you may want to reconsider your platform, your original premise? When it comes to rap, it's easy to dismiss [and never listen to the words] once the rhythm of voices is heard. However, listening can be an amazing experience. Have you ever listened to Shaquille O'Neal's. There was a young girl [age 16] who performed at the Peace Rally I attended months back, whose lyrics she had written. One had to do with sticking by her family no matter what or where she went in her life, being grateful for how they had raised her. Another had to do with waiting for the right person and marriage, rather than doing what she saw so many others doing.

She was dynamic, had the pizazz of those I've seen on TV, and projected TOTAL confidence in her stage movements and voice. However, you had to listen to what she was saying. Off-stage, she was quiet and shy. Some came to her afterward and expressed their willingness to put her in touch with people they knew who might be able to help her. I hope she makes it, that she stays positive, and holds to the ideals she has at this point. Her mother told me that the area where they are living is not too good.

Arthur42Dent · Post by **Arthur42Dent** » Wed May 07, 2003 7:14 am

Pete - You're confused because "The tree of knowledge" is a great piece and most rap is garbage.

There, I hope you feel better now