A JAMAICAN POET IN BROOKLYN

[American]

http://www.creativetime.org/localfrequencies/img/everton_head.jpg
Everton Sylvester
poet, Brooklyn Funk Essentials vocalist

i got cash

i got cash in f. you quantities
know what?
that makes you uncomfortable?
f. you, and the range rover you drove in on
f. your saab convertable
and f. your twice weekly trips to the analyst
stupid motherf.

f. the hamptons, maine, and the fly infested south of france
i'm paid assh-le
got more cash that god can count
so why don't you just - die?

choke to death on your dammed designer bagel from balducci's
low cholesterol, naturally

f. your big old sunday new york times
f. the wall street journal and newsweek and the lot
including nation, village voice, guardian and the rest
stupid set of priviledged motherf'ers
think it's fashionable to have an alternative view
an "alternative" view

and f., if you can
your pencil-thin, evian-drinking,
calorie-counting, caffeine-limiting,
sodium-sparing, nutrasweet-sweetening,
rear-view-mirror-preening,
carrot-nibbling bunny

go drown in a lake of diet coke, f'er!

i got cash
what else matters?
i got cash
slave

f. your fencing, screw your squash
yo! piss on your polo and your pavaratti
f. all that sh-t you call music and pretend to enjoy

i got cash
megacash
unhappy with that?
oh, go sit on your ski rack
money talks you little p-ssy

and let your politically correct pals know
that i think you're a d-ck also
neutered assh-le

and your idea of multiculturalism:
japanese restaurant on monday
indian on tuesday
and on wednesday, caribbean
"oh, not too spicy please!"

well, i got stash on stash
and it ain't nouveau cash
money's been in my family for generations
my great, great, great grandfather
made the bag
selling european slaves
in africa

i got cash, motherf'er
and you can't tell
whether or not i'm joking
can you?
dumb f.
------------------

DILLY DALLY
by Everton Sylvester

De Korean polish him apples dem clean
and arrange dem in stack of red, gold, and green.
Say him want Rasta to feel welcome.
Seen?

*1) There are a lot of 24hour grocery stores owned by Koreans in New York.
*2) Red, yellow, and green are the symbolic colors of Rasta.
*3) This poem is partly written in Jamaican English.

Above is a part of the poem "Dilly Dally" written by Brooklyn based Jamaican poet, Everton Sylvester. He depicts alienation in the poem caused by living in New York as minority.

He appears in the video clip of this poem with the band "Brooklyn Funk Essentials" in which he takes a part as a poetry reader. This dreadlocks poet with cool deep voice is a teacher during the day time.

Ref. (http://www.nybct.com/6-01-poet.html)

[coalesce]

Living and working in Brooklyn, I know both types of people in the first poem, and I have to say, I side with the poet. Very funny and very true.

Good post!

Mihcael

[Hand Bent Spoon]

Poetry.com would like Everton Sylvester to know they want his $59.95, too.:roll: He might even be poet of the year (for a mere $250 additional).

I wonder if, early in his career, he ever fell for thier scam? Did they score Maya Angelou, too?

[American]

Originally posted by Hand Bent Spoon

I wonder if, early in his career, he ever fell for thier scam? Did they score Maya Angelou, too?

He is kind of a nobody, but Brooklyn Funk has sold a few albums by picking him up. You can buy them at amazon, or steal them as MP3s if you're into that sort of thing. Actually they may not even be big enough to appear on Kazaa (or whatever the kids are using these days to trade music).

[shemp]

How can it be poetry? Nothing rhymes?

Now here's a REAL poem:

A flea and a fly in a flue
Were imprisoned, so what could they do?
Said the fly, "let us flee!"
"Let us fly!" said the flea.
So they flew through a flaw in the flue.
-- Ogden Nash