I have been in many churches
an prayed at many altars,
I have studied the Gods of our World.

But I have never-
felt so redeemed,
as I did-
lying sweetly,
in your safe, warm embrace.

You are my savior,
.....you .. are ..
my religion.


Ma Cherie © 2017

GIRL,
Your skin sings tributes to your ancestors
Those that even through noose
Fought for their freedom
Each vein and stretchmark
A tribute to the stripes of each whip

Your smile sings a sweet song
Of him who on the cross ended all struggle
Him who through lovingkindness, draws you in.
Girl, if only you knew, how more than enough you truly are!

Girl
You matter.
Because by the stripes of him that healed
You were made whole
Made anew.
And thus the debate ended,
you matter.

Girl.
Don't succumb to what society asks of you
Be it thick or slim
light as day nor
Dark as night
In Christ you are enough

Girl,
you are icecream on a sunny day
You are tender and brave
Redeemed and free
You are a mother of nations
You are God's beloved
Girl, you are everything.

On a dark and frightening eve
When the clouds rolled in and the moon went black
Lay the body of an inocent man

Not a trace of fear could be seen on his blood stained face
Not a drop of his pure blood had been spilled without worth

Every sin and all wrongs were no longer our death sentence
As he had paid for our ransom with the holes in his hands and his feet

Wrapped in the clothes of the dead
Sealed in a tomb of stone
Rejoicing were the Angels in heaven
As the Son made His way home

But not for Long would he stay
For there on the third day
In the tomb of the dead
There lay no body at all

Our guilt and our shame were laid on the body of an inocent man
A man without guilt and without shame, a man who overcame death

You peel open my chest–
how beautiful, Lord–
You turn this rotten apple,
to color.

The moonlight sways and swine
It whispers on the illumination of the stars
A mirage of the skies evens the pace

The stroll in the silence of the woods
A haste, the heat, a taste of the kiss
Amiss in the mist of the dense pastures

The evoke of passion, a poison
What a mission? Dissolution
A destitute encaged in iron bars

Redeemed to breath again
Expounded in light, bounded insight
A knight of a night....What a might?

I promised myself I wouldn't love again. The pain of a broken heart, unbearable. Yet we pick ourselves up and tell ourselves "Everything is gonna be alright. I won't make the same mistakes again..."

But what does our emotions do to us when we meet someone? Someone we can talk to and share thoughts and opinions with? Who we get to know on a deep and more personal level? To somehow make a connection with another living soul? We then feel compassion for that person. We care about them. We feel the desirable need to let them know that someone out in the wide world understands them. But when it's someone who has been hurt. Broken. Practically shattered. You feel that much closer to them. Because who better to understand a shattered heart than another? But then when things begin to feel serious, for one or the other, things go wrong. Doubt pokes it's ugly face around the corner and causes a total cluster ****.

I have been judged, bullied, beaten, threatened, cheated, and lied to. Yet I still stand. Pieces left behind by those who thought, "There has got to be someone better..." But what if you don't find better? What if what you had was perfect? What if? The sad thing about this? I still carry a little piece of you everywhere I go. These blessed and cursed memories. The little pieces left behind...

I toiled then in Babylon
with a suit and black tie on
I forgot who it was that I called on
JAH the one true lord of love
Sits on HIS throne high up above
HE sent to me a holy dove
in its talons
Kush

I had not smoked since that night
The sight of it gave me a fright
but from the sky, a holy light!
A fatherly voice came down from a cloud
"Son this kush is hella loud
Smoke it well, and make me proud!"
so I packed a bowl
and smoked

The power of kush, it lifted me
This powerful plant HE gifted me
It mended that old rift in me
and I once again, was reggae.