ba ra bbas
 
when i looked in his eyes i saw my friends cheering me on
i am the nigga their homebody i am real not some christ
not some savior
 
i am a worthy nigga then this jesus captures me with a look
like some bitch i am turned out ... his avenger his secret pain
what he really wanted to do to you motherfuckers for killing
him and you chicken-shit niggers for allowing it to happen
 
now you are ashamed of me
and the curse jesus put upon my head
 
ba ra bbas the thief
barabbas the straight-up nigga for life
henry watson on the corner of...
a hard-working meat-packing
slaughter-house worker for a father
who would come home and whoop there it is
on my ass
 
and school
flunked and passed over
you failed me
tolerated my mood swing
encouraged my resistance to pain
 
now you must pay
i want your lexus motherfuckering
get out the car
or i'll blow your bitch face
off
...naw you stay here
right next to me
what you been drinking bitch
tequila huh
 
screaming don't kill me
please don't kill
 
what you think jesus wanted
to say when
 
you crucified him
when you stole him from himself
 
bitch crying
shutup' ho
 
we ain't never been friends
in this country
 
i come
from slaves
and you are white
 
but my hands holding
your leg
in this mad death car ride
you are dying
tonight
on david letterman
let's see how many laughs you
get
 
he made eye-contact with me
after you chose me
and condemned him
i cannot choose you
 
with a momma turned strawberry
wanting to fuck me to feel good
to feel good
like woman
'cause she needed
her little man to be
a man
and protect her
from the other nigga
in the house
 
i am telling you
 
my shame
'cause that is what jesus
gave me
the right to heal
myself
before he died
 
and you nailed him to the cross
for that
and you
 
 
wonder what he promised me
when he looked into my eyes
he wanted to kill you motherfuckers
 
why do you think he let me live
 
god!
 
i am this boy's vengeance
and i learned why we must suffer
because we don't have the courage
to fight back speak up for ourselves
 
i will not die for you
jesus wanted to scream out
to you.
 
and if i take you prisoner
in your husband's jaguar
in your husband's mercedes
 
and i want a sacrifice
it is because of your
bullshit
white bitch
how you use
feminism
to silence
your tequila stinks
 
my woman loves me
she knows what i do
some may never call
it revolution
 
i call it divine
resistance
performance
not to be done
in your galleries
but in real realms
 
to think that i thought
this through
to think i know
how to be deliberate
i must be honest
 
the first step to live
in revolution
is to provoke it
one
because
we have thought
it through
 
so the next time
it won't be
because
a king was killed
crucified
beat down
at the foothills
of justice
 
 
 
this is not jerusalem
you say
i am god
can you ever
see me that way
 
car-jacker thief
nigga
murderer
can you
ever see me as
god
 
the god you made
to avenge
your jesus....
 
 
- Keith Antar Mason
 
Keith Antar Mason is a poet, playwright, director and performance artist. His work has been published and
performed throughout the US for over two decades. He lives in Santa Monica, CA.
 
 

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