origination

I originate with the drum 

Call me humanity 

For arguments sake 

 When all's said and done 

Let's consider me worth more than a salary 

And that's all very well 

As an abstract concept  

I can debate economics casually 

 As a peer
Real recognise Real 

I acknowledge common ground bashfully 

And shuffle my feet asking 

Can't we just get along without you asking me 

What I'm worth
What my weight in gold is
What my value is? 

I'll remain adamant
You can't put a tag on this 

Translate me to currency

 Reduce me to property

 Trap me in poverty

 I originate with the drum 

The beat
I am rich beyond measure

 Food for thought

 Fuel for peace 

I am tears on sacred ground 

I am sacrifice for belief 

The rain above your head 

The roots beneath your feet 

I originate with the drum 

And I end there

 Resurrected between beats 

intimacy between eaves 

intricacy of wheat-sheaves

 magic in the tea leaves 

The joy when we arrive 

 Sadness when we leave 

 Legacies upon legacies upon
Painful legacies 

And the hope they carry 

The first hint of a melody 

I originate with the drum 

And live in the breath on the off beat 

Art is not technique 

And I am not a unit 

I am failure 

I am imperfection 

Uniformity bores me to fuck 

I originate with the drum
And I echo 

I might buckle but I'm never crushed 

And I re-emerge 

 A vein formed around the pulse 

lifeblood 

Transparent skin stretched tight 

Compressed as the waves rush 

Flowing through to the edge and back 

Originating
With the drum 

Never deviating 

No mediation necessary 

Legendary 

Yet contemporary 

Timeless