Christmas in the Cocoa [Spoken Word]

 Uploaded by TheLydians
CHRISTMAS IN THE COCOA
By Muhammad Muwakil

Can you form a word without moving your mouth?
Can you write a word without moving your hand?

You see, they say, "In the beginning was the Word."
Was it written? Was it spoken?
Doesn't matter.
In the beginning there was movement.

Now, imagine for a moment,
That the very turning of the earth depended on the falling of your feet
That if you did not move, the sun would not rise,
The day would nor come, the flowers would not open,
The earth itself would grow cold from its very core
Time would stand still.
The ice stretching its cold fingers from the north and the south
Strangers to embrace us all, white tombs where we sit.

If movement is life, then fear not the rain
Embrace the sun, open your roofs, and dance the cocoa.

For the mothers working in the casinos at three o' clock in the morning
In their mandatory short, black skirts fending off stale drunk advances
Six months pay to offer your morality up to the altar of ease for one night
Heels cramping your toes, weave pulling at your roots
Hours still to go...

In high heels or open toes... dance the cocoa.

To the young girl who just walk six blocks to buy twenty sleeping pills
Because this life sometimes gets too hard to keep your eyes open -
Drink a glass of water and go in your bed.
Dream it may be better.

In high heels or open toes... dance the cocoa.

To the two teenage girls selling chocolate wafers in Woodford Square
What some make in a hour, you doh see in a week
What some see in a month, you will not see in your lifetime
But some weakness is to see and not to feel.
Let me tell you - If you have compassion in your heart and love somewhere waiting
Then never ever wish to be like those who
Hustle home to empty mansions and fat bank accounts
While the lost warmth of empty hearts goes unaccounted for.

In high heels or open toes in this river of time
Dance fast, dance slow... dance the cocoa.

To the single father, unemployed, who wakes up every morning
To carry his son to school
No reply from the resumes, waiting for a normal life to resume
Times hard but are you harder than times?
And the clock hand regardless bound to move
You ent no newborn but trust me, you ent ready for the tomb.
Forgive them at home if they can't see that you trying
Darkness in nature is the absence of light
But darkness in man is the absence of Truth.
And is not every man that have two eyes that could see
And not every beating heart could feel.
There are pillars of steel on this planet
That cry more under the weight of what they carry than some human beings.

In patent shoes, high heels or open toes,
This river of time
Dance fast, dance slow...
The treasure of your heart the rich may never know...dance the cocoa.

To the celibate teen and the young ones on the pill
To every ward in Port of Spain General
Where this developed nation wards her ills,
To those of less monetary value but equal stature
To the real ones and the actors,
To those who benefit and the real benefactors
To the hands that prepare the hot meals
So the children could have something to eat
To the belly that went hungry so the heart could smile as it watch them same children sleep
To the abused who didn't become the abuser
To the users from one day to twenty years sober
To the single mother who never tell them children nothing bad 'bout their father
To the ones who repented the morning after
To the ones who over anger choose laughter
To the one who said, "No more." and meant it
To the secret admirer who finally wrote that love letter and sent it
To the former bandit working KFC instead of crime
And to the innocent on Death Row serving his innocent time
To the cancer patient who they give six months to live
Remember, no man doh wind the hand of Time... dance your cocoa.

Bitter seeds under your feet will become the food of gods
Time doh always help you get even
But she sure have a way of evening out the odds.

This is for the people who wake up before everybody else wake up
The so called ungodly hour
The ones who mightn't go down in history or go down on their knees
But their footfalls are the turning of this world
It is you who keep us, it is we who are ungrateful
Your movement is life.

Fear not the rain, embrace the sun, open your roofs,
Movement is life, open your roofs and ....dance the cocoa.

Source: The lyrics posted on this blog are often transcribed directly from performances. Although it is my intention to faithfully transcribe I do not get all the words and I have a knack for hearing the wrong thing. Please feel free to correct me or to fill in the words that I miss by dropping me a message via e-mail. I'd be forever grateful. Thanks in advance! ..............................................................................................................................  

 

A Note From The Gull

Thank you, thank you, thank you...Muhammad Muwakil. I've had the privilege of listening to this many times so that I could accurately transcribe it. Needless to say my shirt sleeve is now damp. This is a healing that I badly needed and yet another beautiful Christmas gift from a countryman. I have to pass it on to you. T&T, treasure Muhammad and all the other Trinbagonians who spin gold out of straw. We are blessed.

"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare