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Cedric McClester Apr 2015
By: Cedric McClester

We’re gonna have to answer
For our nation’s past misdeeds
So calls for reparations
To address present needs
Shouldn’t just be dismissed
Totally out of hand
Clearly there’s a debt owed
Is that so hard to understand

We can’t simply wish
The sins of the past away
We’re gonna havta answer
Sooner or later some day

Our history tells the sad tale
Of countless acts of genocide
Look at the indigenous peoples
And how so many of ‘em died
Then there’s the African
Who was forced into slavery
Robbed of all family ties
As well as their dignity

We can’t simply wish
The sins of the past away
We’re gonna havta answer
Sooner or later some day

How can we just pretend
That none of this ever existed
We need to make amends
For those crimes already listed

We can’t simply wish
The sins of the past away
We’re gonna havta answer
Sooner or later some day

Few want to be confronted
With this kind of ugly truth
But history has recorded
All of the needed proof
So the time for reparations
Long has been past due
And if we were to be honest
We’d own up to it too

We can’t simply wish
The sins of the past away
We’re gonna havta answer
Sooner or later some day

How can we just pretend
That none of this ever existed
We need to make amends
For those crimes already listed

We can’t simply wish
The sins of the past away
We’re gonna havta answer
Sooner or later some day

(Outro)
We’re gonna have to answer
For our nation’s past misdeeds
So calls for reparations
To address present needs
Shouldn’t just be dismissed
Totally out of hand
Clearly there’s a debt owed
Is that so hard to understand



(c) Copyright 2015, Cedric McClester.  All rights reserved.
Black and Blue Oct 2013
I remember the night you sang Objects in the Mirror to me on the phone. 



I never thought that it would feel this way.

You never taught me how to heal the pain.

I wish you caught me on a different day, when it was easier to be happy.

I kinda find it strange, how the times have changed.

*

I remember how we used to talk about love, like it was an institutionalized little child, drug down from what glory it used to hold; how it used to transcend time and knowledge and beauty and all other emotion.



Someone like you is so hard to find.

I remember that you thought I was put together perfectly. I still don’t understand how you ever reached that end of the spectrum, completely opposite my own view. I still don’t understand how everyone around me sees someone that I don’t see when I look in the mirror. I’m anti-altruistic and unintelligent and completely guilt ridden and not at all beautiful.


All I ask is don’t you worry, I won’t hurt you, don’t you worry.



I remembered how much stock I put in you. I remember how you promised you wouldn’t hurt me, because you had been put through the same wringer as I. I remember how you just unattached yourself one day, on the bias that it was my fault. You stranded me. Probably for another, prettier, girl. 



Listen to me I will set you free,

He ain’t gonna break your heart again.



And I could never figured out what that particular line meant in the scheme of things, but I realize now, as you’re trying to drift back into my life with the drive of a listless breeze, you were setting me up for the next heartbreak. 
After all, all my life really is, is a string of heartbreak.



Go through the worst to reach the ecstasy.

Wish we could go and be free, once baby you and me,

We could change the world forever, and never come back again.


 
I remember the feeling that bloomed in my heart when I realized someone like you cared about someone like me. That someone like you wanted to fix someone like me. Then I reached the conclusion that depression and mental illness isn’t attractive. That you were drawn to the prettier parts of me that resembled tarnished silver, in the hopes that you would have time to break in your silver polish in the spare time and privacy of your awful little home town.



You don’t havta cry. 

And mend a broken hearted girl if you can, I don’t expect you to be capable. 

You have the world right in your hands, your responsibility is unescapable.



I realized that boys don’t like sad girls, but you could see what I could be. I thought you wanted to help me and fix me, but eventually shouldering a burden that isn’t your own gets too heavy to carry. It gets heavier and heavier through the crying, sleepless nights that you would guide me through with your lantern, which became duller each time I needed saving.



Don’t even say you’re about to end it all,

Your life is precious ain’t no need to go and **** yourself. 


Then you left.

On my watch.

On my fault.

On something that wasn’t really my fault.



I promise that I’ll be a different man,

Give me the chance to go and live again.



But here you are with nonchalance and no apologies for the tears wasted on you. 

There may be another boy toying with my broken pieces, fitting me together because he can see the beauty you saw. 

But here you are pretending you still care and still find me beautiful.

There may be beauty in this other boy who helps me, who is just as broken as me, another boy who shares my pain in what I’ve never gotten.

But here you are rehashing memories of nights spent crying over a song.



You don’t have to cry.

Let’s leave it all in the rearview.



But here I am, telling you that broken girls give second chances.



Let’s leave it all in the rearview.

But here I am, telling you that I’m halfway mended.



Let’s leave it all in the rearview.



But here I am, telling you that for me, once you’ve left you cannot re-enter.



Leave it all in the rearview.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpUE9F7rp20

Objects in the Mirror by Mac Miller
Cedric McClester Dec 2015
By: Cedric McClester

***** **** ***
Terms that we all know
Which only goes to show
The depths to which men go
To shame women although
They have mothers who
Get categorized that way too
But they act like who knew

*****, ****, ***
It has a certain flow
On and on we go
Tryin’ to bring ‘em low
But it’s not fair and yo
We need to take it slow
Before those labels stick
Let’s change our rhetoric

*****, ****, ***
People that we know
Use it frequently although
It shouldn’t be that way but yo
Guess that’s just how it go
We use it for ammo
When we refuse to grow
Change sometimes is slow

***** **** ***
Are terms that havta go
Why hold ‘em in escrow
For the sake of puttin’ on a show
Of put downs that’s below
The ladies we bestow
Those names on even though
They’ve become status quo


















Cedric McClester. Copyright © 2015. All rights reserved.
Cedric McClester Nov 2016
By: Cedric McClester

Though it may not appear
That you are what they fear
And it may not seem
Like it’s low self-esteem
Look a little closer
And you’ll often find
That’s what’s behind
A hate-filled mind

They try to act superior
While feelin’ quite inferior
Ya don’t havta state it if it’s a fact
They’re only projecting what they feel they lack
Look a little closer
And you’ll often find
That’s what’s behind
A hate-filled mind

They’re just frightened people
That’s all that they are
Yet that doesn’t stop ‘em
From baring the scar
Of their hate-filled actions
Fueled by their bigotry
Although frightened people
Is what they well may be

Hateful actions and the rhetoric
Of a minor few who are clearly sick
Permeates the atmosphere
You can find it everywhere
But look a little closer
And you’ll often find
That’s what’s behind
A hate-filled mind


Cedric McClester, Copyright (c) 2016.  All rights reserved.
Cedric McClester Jan 2022
By: Cedric McClester

I often ask myself why
Did Tupac and Biggie havta die?
Or when it comes to either guy
Did the law oƒ karma apply?
Time has long since evolved
And neither ****** has been solved
So no one can be absolved
Of not having been involved

Tupac and Biggie are history
But they’re an ongoing mystery
Though their relationship was blistery
They’re not worthy of a consistory
But many of us still morn
The fact that they both are gone
And though our hearts are torn
We’ve been forced to just move on

Tupac and Biggie were friends
Who came to bitter ends
Both were guilty of their own sins
And they fell like candlepins
They were masters of the rap game
Who one time or another lit the flame
That’s not to say they were the same
But they both achieved their own acclaim

Tupac and Biggie waged a war
The likes of which we’d never seen before
Between the West and East coasts for sure
But one that we couldn’t ignore
Both met tragic ends
When they became erstwhile friends
And battled like shirts and skins
In a contest in which no one side wins


Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2022.  All rights reserved.
Cedric McClester Apr 2015
By: Cedric McClester

It wasn’t fit for livin’ in
But 106 Rivington
Was where musicians got it in
And some of ‘em even began
Where drummers let loose on their drums
A rat tat tat ba-*** *** ***
From all over we would come
To play and hear 'em play their drums

106 Rivington
May not have been worth living in
But was ideal for playin when
We needed space to practice in

Like Birdland sadly it is gone
And sumthin’ ‘bout that feels so wrong
Though memories no doubt live on
And we’ll just have to move along
We can’t complain because it’s done
We all had one hell-of-a-run
Not to mention lots of fun
Here’s to the setting of the sun

Some will lament others will morn
A part of history now is gone
But there will be another dawn
And we will play another song

106 Rivington
May not have been worth living in
But was ideal for playin when
We needed space to practice in

Given the low rent we paid
It was like one big parade
At 106 friendships were made
From the foundations that we laid
But times moves on and so must we
What the future holds we’ll havta see
Guess we’ll just have to let it be
Cos I don’t know so don’t ask me

Some will lament others will morn
A part of history is now gone
But we will play another song
And there will be another dawn

106 Rivington
May not have been worth living in
But was ideal for playin when
We needed space to practice in


(c) Copyright 2015, Cedric McClester.  All rights reserved.
Cedric McClester Apr 2015
By: Cedric McClester

I paid good money
To see your show
Not to hear you sing
Songs that I don’t know
You’ve got good chops
I admit you can blow
But I’m feelin’ robbed
Of my hard earned dough

Saw your show
And I left in doubt
Scratching my head
What was it all about
New material
But what you left out
Were audience favorites
Which gave you your clout

You didn’t even sing
Your latest hit
When you left the stage
I had a fit
And what was with that outfit
That you came out wid
It was all so stange
Ya havta admit

Saw your show
And I left in doubt
Scratching my head
What was it all about
New material
But what you left out
Were audience favorites
Which gave you your clout

I’ma fan no more
Cuz my heart has hardened
You don’t do that shhhh
At Madison Square Garden
Who you think you are
I beg yo’ pardon
You have no idea
What you have started

Saw your show
And I left in doubt
Scratching my head
What was it all about
New material
But what you left out
Were audience favorites
Which gave you your clout

You’re a modern day Nina
As in Ms. Simone
And if you keep that up
You’ll be all alone
When you come on stage
You’ll find us gone
I wonder if
That thought ever dawned

I’ma fan no more
Cuz my heart has hardened
You don’t do that shhhh
At Madison Square Garden
Who you think you are
I beg yo’ pardon
You have no idea
What you have started

Saw your show
And I left in doubt
Scratching my head
What was it all about
New material
But what you left out
Were audience favorites
Which gave you your clout


(c) Copyright 2015, Cedric McClester.  All rights reserved.
I Paid Good Money was inspired by an Erykah Badu show at Madison Square Garden.  She was on the bill with R&B; singer Maxwell and the poem explains the rest.
Cedric McClester Apr 2015
By: Cedric McClester

Though it may not appear
That you are what they fear
And it may not seem
Like it’s low self-esteem
Look a little closer
And you’ll often find
That’s what’s behind
A hate-filled mind

They try to act superior
While feelin’ quite inferior
Ya don’t havta state it if it’s a fact
They’re only projecting what they feel they lack
Look a little closer
And you’ll often find
That’s what’s behind
A hate-filled mind

They’re just frightened people
That’s all that they are
Yet that doesn’t stop ‘em
From baring the scar
Of their hate-filled actions
Fueled by their bigotry
Although frightened people
Is what they well may be

Hateful actions and the rhetoric
Of a minor few who are clearly sick
Permeates the atmosphere
You can find it everywhere
But look a little closer
And see if you find
That you might well have
A hate-filled mind

(c) Copyright 2015, Cedric McClester.  All rights reserved
Cedric McClester Dec 2015
Cedric McClester

Though it may not appear
That you are what they fear
And it may not seem
Like it’s low self-esteem
Look a little closer
And you’ll often find
That’s what’s behind
A hate-filled mind

They try to act superior
While feelin’ quite inferior
Ya don’t havta state it if it’s a fact
They’re only projecting what they feel they lack
Look a little closer
And you’ll often find
That’s what’s behind
A hate-filled mind

They’re just frightened people
That’s all that they are
Yet that doesn’t stop ‘em
From baring the scar
Of their hate-filled actions
Fueled by their bigotry
Although frightened people
Is what they may be

Hateful actions and the rhetoric
Of a minor few who are clearly sick
Permeates the atmosphere
You can find it everywhere
But look a little closer
And you’ll often find
That’s what’s behind
A hate-filled mind
Cedric McClester Mar 2016
By: Cedric McClester

There’s more beneath the surface
Than there appears to be
And we’re working at cross-purposes
If we fail to see
Some secrets really hurt us
And while that well may be
What we need to do to unravel ‘em
Remains the mystery

The company asserts the right
To have it’s privacy
The government gets uptight
And says while that well may be
We need you to break the code
So we can look and see
What’s encrypted on that phone
So please give us the key

We’re trying to do our very best
To fill in the blanks
But we need your help nevertheless
And you’re telling us no thanks
It’s a mater of extreme importance
You see your nation banks
On discovering the information therein
And now we’re closing ranks

We’ll take it all the way if we havta
Straight to the Supreme Court
We’re trying to avoid a future disaster
Like the deceased terrorist wrought
So we’re humbly asking you to do this
But you’re saying you’re not
Your right to free speech is acknowledge
Though your cooperation’s sought










Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2016.  All rights reserved.
Cedric McClester Feb 2016
By: Cedric McClester

Cops shot
As it redundantly repeats
We havta get these guns
Off of our city streets
The answer could be pressure
From the corporate suites
To get our law makers
To apply the heat

Cop’s lives
Have to matter (it’s a must)
Cuz they’re charged with
Protecting us
When they’re on patrol
Believe and trust
They’re not looking for things
To combust

Cops aren’t no different
From me and you
After their shift
They want to go home too
To the front doors
They usually come through
To do whatever
They usually do

Cop’s on occasion
Sometimes go astray
Though it’s unfortunate
That is not to say
They deserve to be shot
As a way to pay
Because I’m here to tell ya
That it’s not okay






Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2016.  All rights reserved.
Cedric McClester Aug 2017
By: Cedric McClester

It wasn’t fit for livin’ in
But 106 Rivington
Was where musicians got it in
And some of ‘em even began
Where drummers let loose on their drums
A rat tat tat ba-*** *** ***
From all over we would come
To play and hear 'em play their drums

106 Rivington
May not have been worth living in
But was ideal for playin when
We needed space to practice in

Like Birdland sadly it too is gone
And sumthin’ ‘bout that feels so wrong
Though memories no doubt will live on
And we’ll just have to move along
We can’t complain because it’s done
We all had one hell-of-a-run
Not to mention lots of fun
Here’s to the setting of the sun

Some will lament others will morn
A part of history is now gone
But there will be another dawn
And we will play another song

106 Rivington
May not have been worth living in
But was ideal for playin when
We needed space to practice in

Given the low rent that we paid
It was like being in one big parade
At 106 friendships were made
From the foundations that we laid
But times moves on and so must we
What the future holds we’ll havta see
Guess we’ll just have to let it be
Cos I don’t know so don’t ask me

Some will lament others will morn
A part of history is now gone
But we will play another song
And there will be another dawn

106 Rivington
May not have been worth living in
But was ideal for playin when
We needed space to practice in



Cedric McClester, Copyright (c) 2017.  All rights reserved.
Cedric McClester Oct 2018
Cedric McClester

Life is full of twists and turns
Full of lessons we must learn
From the karma that we earn
We should know how to discern
When we’re livin’ right
Walkin’ in the day or night
Where the vampires will not bite
They’re afraid of the sunlight

Forget that old analogy
What will be don’t havta be
It’s really up to you and me
To rewrite our destiny
Though life is a mystery
Certain patterns you can see
When you follow history
Are you listenin’ to me

Listen to these words I write
No matter what your life is like
It’s like riding on a bike
Practice helps to get it right
The inclinations that you fight
Are different as day from night
But try walkin’ in the light
Where the vampires will not bite

Life is full of twists and turns
Full of lessons we must learn
From the karma that we earn
We should know how to discern
When we’re livin’ right
Walkin’ in the day or night
Where the vampires will not bite
They’re afraid of the sunlight






Cedric McClester, Copyright (c) 2018.  All rights reserved.
Cedric McClester Sep 2019
By: Cedric McClester

At twelve midnight they shut it down
There’s not one person to be found
Hangin’ ‘round on the street
Welcome to Dullsville it’s replete
With pretty homes and lawns so neat
And after dark you cannot meet
A single soul you didn’t know
There’s no one’s movin’ to or fro

There’s nuthin’ to do (nowhere to go)
Most folks pop in a video
And watch their latest DVD
Before goin’ to sleep ya see
By now I think you’ve figured out
It’s boring here without a doubt
Welcome to Dullsville come on in
It doesn’t matter where you’ve been

Here everything is so much calmer
There’s no confusion or the drama
Of sirens screamin’ in the night
Or drivers ignoring a light
And people talk instead of fight
To prove their point when they’re right
Welcome to Dullsville are we clear
If you’re rich you’re welcome here

Nuthin to run from or to fear
Welcome to Dullsville
Now that you're here
Listen to ‘em as they pitch
How it’s a haven for the rich
And all you havta do is ditch
Familiar urges and the itch
For fun and play night and day






        Cedric McClester, Copyright (c) 2019.  All rights reserved.
Cedric McClester Aug 2018
By: Cedric McClester

I wanna know
What I havta do,
To wake up one morning
And start to think like you?
What does it take?
I don’t even have a clue
How you can hate someone
Based solely on their hue

I wanna know,
Why you hate immigrants
Like your in-laws and mother
I musta missed the hints
Or is it just the others
That provoke those sentiments
Shared by like-minded brothers
Vice President Mike Pence

I wanna know
How family separation
Serves the best interests
Of this nation
Which rapidly is losing
It’s reserve and patience
With your blatant animus
And wink and nod complacence

I wanna know
What depth has to be reached
Before everyone understands
Why you should be impeached
Especially when one considers
That decorum has been breached
Like the children locked in cages
What lesson does that teach?













Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2018.  All rights reserved.
Cedric McClester Oct 2018
By: Cedric McClester

You call me ugly names
I get your gist
And I confess, nevertheless
It’s come to this
I know what you are
You’re a misogynist
Who presses all my buttons
And gets me ******

You can bully
But you cannot cower me
I’m stronger than that
And I will always be
Someone who fights back
Cuz I don’t take no tea
For the fever
When someone’s attacking see

You do what you do
Because you’re insecure
If I let you get away with it
You’ll do it more
So let’s bring it to an end
Unless you want a war
See I don’t even know
What we’re fighting for

Go ahead now
You’ve had your say
I hope it made your day
In some small way
But keep in mind one day
You’re gonna havta pay
Maybe not this moment
But another day



































Copyright © 2018 Cedric McClester
(101618CM)
This is written in my feminine voice.  It was inspired by what Trump had to say about **** star Stormy Daniels.
Cedric McClester Jan 2022
By: Cedric McClester

I’d havta be
A dounce
To wanna see it again
Having seen it once
You and Britney
Locking lips
After y’all have already
Cashed in those chips

Madonna I’ll  try
To explain
Y’all left the station
On that train
To do it again
Would just be insane
And I’m simply tryin
To make it plain

It was shocking
Once upon a time
Since then many
Have copied your paradigm
To reenact it
Would be a crime
Like words out of
The mouth of a mime

Madonna please
Listen to me
You’re no longer a teenager
You’re in fact sixty-three
Though a rebel
You might always be
Age has caught up with you
Don’t cha seee









Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2022.  All rights reserved.
Cedric McClester Jan 2021
By: Cedric McClester

He’s  barking at the moon
But  it will all be over soon
And he’s  gonna change his tune
It’s safe to assume
Because the wild man at the helm
Who has been overwhelmed
Will legally be compelled
To leave the office he’s held

He’s barking at the moon
Him and his platoon
Who will soon be  consumed
Because they’re clearyl doomed
And will havta pay the cost
For his election loss
Though his wires are crossed
Cuz few ballots were tossed

He’s barking at the moon
While acting like a goon
He must be crazy as a loon
At a lagoon in June
Like Captain Ahab chasing that whale
His best efforts were doomed to fail
I hope he’s raising bail
Cuz he’s gonna be in jail

He’s barking at the moon
While covid deaths consume
Those who’ve faced it’s doom
Which generates more  gloom
The President is a liar
Who doesn’t know how to inspire
Us because it’s dire
Like being on a high wire






Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2020.  All rights reserved.

— The End —