The most interesting man in the world lives vicariously through me

Pinnacle

dosequis06 — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 20:56:26 +0000

Received an assignment to write a sonnet for my poetry class. It’s my first time writing a sonnet, which is a 14 line poem consisting of one thought in the first 8 lines and a separate thought in the last 6 lines with a distinct rhyme scheme in each one. Anyway, hope you enjoy

Door pulled back, “Ladies first” is the phrase
Trip for two, buckled up, come dear let’s explore
Navigating winding curves, smooth shoulders, yet there’s more
Clear skies, sunlight shining, the warmth sets us ablaze
The beauty of God’s creation, subtle wonders indeed amaze
Racing to embrace it all, repeatedly pushed the pedal to the floor
Engine shrieking from the strain, giving all it had in store
Reaching the highest point, words can’t give the proper praise
And yet, words are not needed for what the soul feels
Souls permanently intertwined to nature’s mother
A calming pace ensues, direct from relaxed wills
Road trips like this will never be as special with any other
Taking in the visual wonders, progression has slowed to a creep
Anticipation of climbing once more, but for now, let’s sleep

Magnum Opus

dosequis06 — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 21:10:58 +0000

Solicitation of the celestial deity, sent via Supplication Express
Reverent requisitioning for a reward, residing in Your rapturous excess
A cultivated creation conceived with quality no character can contest
With the prayer pressed, stressed, and blessed the sender could now rest

He searched through his inventory until the proper choice arose
Most things were too common, this gift He would have to compose
Pulled courage from the top shelf, for the adversities that’ll ensue
Knowledge for the dark times, and to know when others are true
Cheer to fight the isolation, humor to fight the sorrow
Focus to accomplish goals, strength for those who need to borrow
A warmth for cold souls, humbleness to reach all kinds
A desire to be successful, an inner eye to see the signs
Self worth to demand respect, kindness for those in need
A belief in love – abundant, an emotional heart – easy to bleed
A beauty unforeseen, that poets could never describe
Except he who she was made for, in her heart this was inscribed

He wrapped the package up, addressed to where she would be placed
Where His creation would go through life, slowly discovering all that was encased
Eventually, by divine intention, her path would lead to where he lay
He who asked for his rib, not by menu, but by decision to pray
Years before he would ask, his gift was already shipped
However, it could not be received until his excess troubles were clipped

No mold was made for this magnum opus of a matron
She was hand-designed, purposefully crafted, and given to His loyal patron
The directions were specific, love and honor her with your life
She’ll become your loyal friend, trusted advisor, most importantly…your wife

“He who findeth a wife, findeth a good thing”

Shine Bright

dosequis06 — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 21:22:07 +0000

Negative space, absence of light, negative race, absence of sight
As our days progress, chaos reigns, and sanity is overcome by fright
Without a guide, lost on the path, without a side, lost in the wrath
A few were chosen to weather the storm and piece together the aftermath
They were selected, yet unaware, some would say diamonds in the rough
Unrefined gems found amidst rough terrains, their clarity they had to uncuff
Their surroundings were the warden, and their peers might as well have been guards
Life inversely a prison, keeping them out instead of in, in those regards
At the core of their fortress, individually designed, a gift is found like no other
A culmination of traits sources from a place beyond a father or mother
A vision for the good, hope for humanity, and a heart built to endure
A love for giving, spirit of selflessness, a soul, that at its core, remains pure
A wine-sort of talents that continue to strengthen as time maintains
Steel-like abilities, the beautiful finish brought out through fiery pain
These lights in a dark world, losing hope because they feel alone
The world needs you now more than ever, amid times He doesn’t condone
The hardest plays are given to the best players, just consider that small notion
Disregard the wind, lightning, thunder, and stay close to your Anchor while on the ocean
Darkness sets out to destroy you, with you gone, there’s absence of sight
But He wants you to stay rooted in yourself, reach your potential, and most importantly Shine Bright

The Inevitable

dosequis06 — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 08:24:58 +0000

To awake each morning only to be
Greeted by the opposition of
A seemingly perfect coordination
Of trials and misfortunes
In light of being created to
Erode the mental capacities
Instilled in a physical vessel
Will begin to……
Take a toll and leave
Deeply etched lines of experience
Which are permanently engraved
But if the victim tends to
Ignore the situation these same
Lessons will be forced to go
Unlearned and unheeded only
To return in the same fashion with
The results from the previous complications
Only to move in a constant cycle
Of never ending pain
Unless…..
You possess a comprehensive soul
That increases its attentiveness
After a single occupation of
Time filled with strife to
Never return again because the pupil’s
Battery of life has been utterly
Worn down to a point
Where the lever points
Completely to the left
To be recharged and refilled to
A point past the previous
Capacity obtained at one time
Before the deflation of the spirits
Which is necessary to increase
The capabilities to deal with
This being that finds pleasure in anguish
To some, but to others….

Man of many talents

dosequis06 — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 23:22:15 +0000

In addition to writing, I also help maintain a Hip Hop Blog. Feel free to check it out at: http://www.made-fresh.blogspot.com/

Also, I just completed my share of a “Best Hip Hop of ’09″ series we have going, check that out here

New poem should be coming sometime soon…just about in the mood to kick this idea out. Next topic?

Love is a life reward, not a mandatory thing

The Damned

dosequis06 — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 05:57:34 +0000

The weather forecast is bleak; dark times, wind, and rain
A storm of sorts if you will, battered houses, physical pain
Eroded egos, trampled thoughts, utter chaos uncontained
Fabricated facts, misguided minions, universal secrets unsustained
Carefully planned chaos, people created past conventional pattern
Prepared terror placed terrifically perfect, theoretical pretenses tattered
Traditions stopped through specifics tactics, security tremendously shattered
Spiritually missing, suspect motives shown; misguidance suddenly mattered
As despair crawled across the land, the sun no longer rising
The trees withered, bare and broken, the root indeed surprising
The world was lost, the blame was spread; the situation compromising
No one knew what destroyed humanity, so began the analyzing

Scientists of old and philosophers of new sat in a row and conversed
Notions bouncing off white walls, lost in their intellect, submersed
While tempers flared, pulses raced, their individual intentions, adverse
All progress negated, judgement soon clouded; the collective movement dispersed
Political leaders and educated theologists, on one point they all convened
Fortune tellers, prophets, even magicians, all could be found on scene
As the massive summit discerned the cause, the real error could not be seen
The peaceful aura was displaced by chaos, and only one man had foreseen
The gentleman had vision beyond his eyes, his years, and any other normal source
His gift was given, cultivated, mastered used for bad and good, of course
He had a message, though cleverly delivered, could not be accepted by force
So he found his platform, gave his solution, cared not whether they endorsed:

“Everything that keeps humanity pure, is slowly becoming a fable
Notions of love and trust are jokes, relationships are becoming unstable
The connections we daily made for friendship, now it seems we’re unable
Now we want things instantly, hoping to be spoon fed by life’s ladle
Gratified instantly has become life’s new mantra, a world obviously lost
Using others to get our goal, selfish driven actions, disregarding the cost
Push one down, to pull self up; sacrifice your bridge as long as I get across
Pushing a higher power down, is what obviously has humanity at a loss
See the issue is bigger than one thing, it’s a clear combination of fail
There’s no need for an afterlife, when we’re in a living, breathing hell
We’re dooming ourselves to purgatory, our souls given out at wholesale
We’d rather laugh at our “celebrities”, than pay attention to life’s details

Rather look up to another with fame and success, than our own reflection
Rather blindly follow media leaders and expect of them, perfection
Rather obsess over the next big thing, until after closer inspection
The moment the fault unfolds, earthquakes shake images from recollection
They’re only great for that moment, then the butt of all jest
Momentarily society’s favorite, at the price of a lifetime of unrest
We wonder why talent is dying, because appreciation is becoming a contest
Perfection is a requirement, the first slip up and you’re viewed as less
Why destroy someone that, at one point in time, you viewed as a guide
Why project your dreams on another, then get mad at them, because you never tried
Why avoid the mirror, delaying having to admit to yourself, you have lied
Why attack another’s hard work, when your own soul’s eyes haven’t dried

Yes, your soul needs attention, but it needs it from the proper place
Doing the “cool” thing to fit in is only temporary and often displaced
Some hoops I’ve seen other’s jump through, only leaves them soon disgraced
The best attention comes from within, your own soul you should embrace
Don’t hold on so tight that, to the outside, you’re unaware
Why should it take an extreme case, to suddenly make you care
A child struck with AIDS, restricted to a clean room kept bare
Suddenly AIDS is an epidemic, you arm with pamphlets and info to share
Should a small child have to be raped to make you a better parent
Why do you never realize how much they mean to you, until the death of a grandparent
Why must a celebrity be abused for domestic violence to become apparent
Should you be left twelve times for being ‘too closed up’, to make you emotionally transparent

I’m sure you think you’ll be hurt again, so you have no reason to rush
But bad experiences in your past should teach you, not become a personal life crutch
Life is painted with pain and cheer, both with the same exact brush
A full life is lived with a fading vital idea, this idea is known as trust
I sometimes question why this notion is amongst a dying breed
Entrenched in a war of ‘Trust vs. Fear’ where everyday the former concedes
The more that it retreats, directly affect, the more humanity’s heart bleeds
With each day the pulse grows weaker, this damning path we lead
Our bladders began to shut down as we piss away our net worth
Our kidneys no longer function, unable to filter our evil’s girth
Overdosing on our own toxins, the liver suffers the same fate as earth
Inhaling our moral pollution, our lungs take our last breath since birth

We’ve been brain dead for years now, even our death order screams insanity
We’d show up late for our own funeral, with our mortician named Vanity
Even while reading this eulogy, we’re still headed for a monstrous calamity
R.I.P. Trust, R.I.P. Love, but most depressing of all, R.I.P. Humanity

The Damned by Larry Hawkins II is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at dosequis06.wordpress.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at lgh.2nd@gmail.com.

Update

dosequis06 — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:23:36 +0000

For the people who check here regularly, I’m working on something I swear.

Just taking some time since I have to outdo everything I’ve done in the past, especially on a subject such as this…

-Stay Tuned

Predicting Unpredictable Predictability

dosequis06 — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:19:53 +0000

So I’m pretty sure you read that title and thought “What the hell is this [insert favorite term] talking about now?”. Well…I have to ask you…do you really wanna kno? Because odds are, I could explain this, and end up making it even MORE complicated than the already borderline-self-contradictory phrase that now exists. Well because my brain always brings me entertainment, yes we’re two seperate entities(don’t judge me!), I’m gonna take this statement, and analyze it because sometimes…I amaze myself. It started with this pulse..and ended up here:

A little background on myself and where this statement initially came from: Anyone who has ever been around me or interacted with me for an extended period of time will recognize I have a gift of insight. I can take a given situation, the people involved, the problem, and analyze it in a way to figure out what can happen, what should happen, and more importantly what will happen. It’s this very fact that has caused me to be on the receiving end of alot of other people’s personal issues. I have heard and seen alot, in addition to my own situations, that has helped me to become better equipped to helping others. Normally after a brief conversation with someone, I know much about them in a sense of how they see themselves, how they think others see them, and what they want to accomplish. This is who I am, it’s who I have been for as long as I can remember, and it’s why I’ve been able to….predict how things and people play out.

The wonderful thing about people and understanding how they operate, is that people, like everything else, change. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. But the one constant thing you can count on about life, is things will change. As people grow and experience more, they’re views and general approach to life will alter. Another thing that will always hold true is the fact that the things people HAVE experienced will play a role in the things they WILL experience. This is where the unpredictablility comes in. Example, that I find oddly amusing, if someone is faced with an attacker that has a knife. And they have never seen a knife before, odds are they are going to end up stabbed. Now rewind. If they are faced with someone that has a knife, and they’ve been stabbed before, the logical thing for them to do is run away. But what if that past experience triggers that memory and instead they take the knife from the person and stab them? Violent I know, but I’m making a point. The past experiences make for an unpredictable variable when it comes to human reactions.

Finally you get back to me. The person who predicts and reads people. Now the one downside to this is, you can get bored easy. Or you may tend to view people as..experiments or objects, instead of individuals. Objective viewing is a great asset but also a big liability in certain situations. Now this was something that had begun to affect me in my love life. The people I met were great people on the surface, but transparent also. They weren’t purposely transparent, they just weren’t complicated enough to not become an open book. Or maybe they had been waiting on someone so they could become one, either way, it was not conducive to an extended experience in my timeline of life. So when I met my, now fiance, and as I continue to understand and meet more and more sides of her each day, I was..how to say, enamored, with who she was as a person. Not only because of how beautiful she was, but because she showed flashes of having alot more than what met the eye. Layers of sort, if you will.

This is when I realized that my attention is always aroused when i’m not able to predict unpredictable predictability. You see, knowing that you can understand and predict someone’s reactions is one thing. Not knowing that you may or may not be able to predict someone is another. But not knowing whether you know or not if you may or may not be able to predict someone’s actions or feelings is on a totally different plane of thinking.

But meeting someone that surpasses all three of those levels was simply……..unpredictable

Venus vs. Mars – #nojayz

dosequis06 — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:50:24 +0000

Alright, well I made a pulse about how feelings are different from emotions and apparently there were some people who wanted me to expound on this. So I guess I’ll give you all MY take on how they differ. There could be some who see things differently and if you do, please comment and leave your view. I love looking at things from different perspectives.

Feeling – A sentiment, attitude, opinion

Emotion – Any strong agitation of the feelings actuated by experiencing love, hate, fear, etc., and usually accompanied by certain physiological changes, as increased heartbeat or respiration, and often overt manifestation, as crying or shaking

These definitons came from www.dictionary.com.

The common impulses in your brain that react to outside stimuli can be seen as “Sentiments”. Now what your brain/body does with these sentiments distinguishes them into two categories, feelings and emotions. These two things are very vital and not realizing the difference between the two is the common ground where men and women most often disagree. Men are the spokesperson for feelings where as women are the spokesperson for emotions. The problem with this is, most men and women alike don’t understand this concept. Grasping this concept can help slowly unravel the universal question of why don’t Men understand Women and Women understand Men.

Feelings are just that, sentiments that you feel. The reason that last sentence is important because the emphasis in that sentence is “you”. Feelings are your own thoughts and opinions about something that has happened or something/someone that is interacting with you. I can look at someone I don’t like and say I FEEL disdain, anger, or uneasiness. When this person looks at me, if I have a good poker face, this person has no idea what I feel about them. When I grab my bowling ball and head to the alley, I FEEL excitement, happiness, and peacefulness. However, would someone who passes me on the way be able to see this? Of course not. Men are most often in tune with their feelings. They may never admit it openly, because we’re men, but it’s a known fact. When someting happens to a loved one, we feel sadness. Our face may tell you that we’re doing just fine, but inside of us, that sentiment of sadness if being felt throughout our core.

Emotions differ from feelings because emotions can be seen. The emphasis in this sentence, if you havent guessed it, is “seen”. Ever heard a guy say, “Dude, that girl is too emotional for me”? You’re more apt to hear that compared to “She has too many feelings”. When a woman is angry about something, what does she do? She slams things a little harder, she breathes a little harder, and if you ask her is she ok she responds, “I’m fine”. Now any man with any kind of sense knows that if a woman says “fine”, she’s everything but that. But that’s another subject. If a woman is happy, she smiles, she has a bounce in her step, she has extra energy to do normal tasks. All these visible actions are what EMOTIONS consist of. Men say women are too emotional because they cry, they yell, they smile, they SHOW what they are FEELING. See the difference right there?

So now that the obvious difference is shown, what can you do with this? Well, for one, women…the statement “You don’t care about my feelings!” is not as valid as you may think. How can a guy not care about something he can’t see? Now if you want to tell him that he doesn’t care about your emotions, by all means go ahead. However, if you’re with this guy, it’s very possible that he DOES in fact care about your emotions, he just doesn’t know how to take his FEELINGS and turn them into EMOTIONS. Men, what you have to realize is, women care about ACTIONS(read emotions). You can tell a woman that you love her, but unless you SHOW it, it doesn’t have as much weight. Men are not wired to show emotions. Let me repeat, men are NOT WIRED TO SHOW EMOTIONS. It doesn’t mean that they can’t, it just means they don’t know how. Guys….women are not wired to understand this concept. I repeat, women are NOT WIRED TO UNDERSTAND THIS CONCEPT.

It’s a give and take type thing: Guys, it doesn’t make you weak to go out and show a girl that you love her. Even if it’s something as simple as holding her close and letting her hear that your heartbeats align into one beat. Something like that is showing emotion. Women, you know that guy loves you. Yeah he may watch tv instead of cuddling, but it’s because he thinks as long as he tells you that he loves you, all is ok. Talk to him, let him know HOW he can SHOW you that he loves you. Guys….when they talk…turn off the tv and listen. It’ll make a world of difference….

Best verse of ’09? (so far)

dosequis06 — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:57:20 +0000

Somehow I keep getting sucked into hiphop debates. This debate brought to you by @beamitup. The statement was made that J.Cole had the best verse of ’09 when he “renegaded” Wale’s “Beautiful Bliss” off his debut album Attention Deficit. This, of course, sparked a debate on what really could be considered the best verse of 2009. (Yes I’m well aware that Lupe drops on the 25th, that’s why it says SO FAR in the title) So I took the suggestions that were thrown out and researched the lyrics so we can all view them at once. All verse choices listed were suggestions from my followers on Twitter. So don’t harass me if you don’t believe a verse should be considered. For the sake of consistency, I’d say the judging criteria should be on a scale of 1 to 5 in the following categories:

Consistency(Staying on topic/seamless transition to new one)
Metaphors
Wordplay
Substance(not just punchlines, but actual meaning)
Flow(actual sound)

Exhibit A: Jay-Z’s 3rd verse from “Thank You” off The Blueprint 3
Thank You Lyrics

Exhibit B: Eminem’s verse from “Forever”
Forever Lyrics

Exhibit C: Lupe Fiasco verse over “Say Something”
Say Something Lyrics

Exhibit D: J.Cole’s verse from “Beautiful Bliss”
Beautiful Bliss Lyrics

Exhibit E: Crooked I’s verse from “Cuckoo“
Cuckoo Lyrics

Exhibit F: Lil Wayne verse over “Run This Town“
Run This Town Lyrics

Exhibit G: Gucci Mane verse on “Break Up“
Break Up Lyrics

Exhibit H: Royce da 5’9” verse on “Part of Me”
Part of Me Lyrics

Exhibit I: Drake verse on Digital Girl Remix
Digital Girl Remix Lyrics

Exhibit J: Joell Ortiz verse on D.O.A
D.O.A. Lyrics

I was gonna stop at 10 but I realized Joe Budden was nowhere on the list, so:
Exhibit K: Joe Budden on BET Cypher
Cypher Lyrics

Alright, if you have a suggestion, include it with your comments and breakdown of the verse.

Let the games begin…

Oh while you’re here, feel free to check out my latest short story