I don’t go on nobody signal, I don’t signal, I just go Another rain-checked one for the road Uncrustable king, paint-pen tucked in the coat Amen, ghost in the cold AM, play dead But awake to float and say less, say when Oh the saints of mayhem ain’t obey no tech, ok bet Code names get thrown around between clubhouses with secret knocks Leap froggin’ these tent fires, I’m no-face at the dream spot With the fly hand, clean block lettering peacock feathering Canary yellow, Zelda green, blueberries in heavy cream Yes, vendetta messenger, get to the boys you b-line with “He’s autographed our street signs, plus a paw print from the Klee Kai mix” Hydrangea gatorade, a half-a-dozen scratch-offs Then I’m back in black, attack attack, it’s Mac the Knife, on Darryl Mac It’s black and white, with passers-by upsetting every active rat That’s aptly trying to drag his Laffy Taffy thru some traffic jam That type of shit will have the kid distracted from the offering A city’s baptism, y’all, walk with me Where the sky is falling, and the walls are bleeding And the wires are crossing (Walk With Me) Where the ground is sinking and the pipes are freezing And the nights appalling (Walk With Me) I don’t go on nobody signal, I don’t signal, I just go (Walk with me) I don’t go on nobody signal, I don’t signal, I just go I’ve got, 2 different silvers in the utility belt Like twin flames for the same hands from the pillory Out in the grid of infinity smells Hooded figure, sniffing markers, chewing ginger, missing marbles Cookie monsters with conflicting dharmas I’m moving contra to existing markets, in the mood to conquer Rah rah, sonic boom, it’s my nom de plume on y'alls roof in lava You could see it from the moon I could even wait, heat a cup of soup Feet up on the table, eat a couple shrooms Eat a couple more, meet up in a few You could be like “Yo I feel like such a dork” I could push a button, see you through the floor Night-crawlers in fine form, off flying saucers That’s not a final warning it’s a final offer for the first-time caller, last-time caller Capsized in that phat glow from this black light I might short cut through Magic 5, I got more ups in the after life, and that’s for You, can’t even rest in peace in peace Tag the gates of heaven, so my name is still a presence at your meet and greet He he he, crystal ball, he hits the wall a hawk to meat No vault safe, no off days, walk with me Where the sky is falling, and the walls are bleeding And the wires are crossing (Walk With Me) Where the ground is sinking and the pipes are freezing And the nights appalling (Walk With Me) I don’t go on nobody signal, I don’t signal, I just go (Walk with me) I don’t go on nobody signal, I don’t signal, I just go We don't stay close to the flame we get ghost, weave those lanes We don’t know to obey It’s ok if you do, please don't change We don't stay close to the flame we get ghost, weave those lanes We don’t know to obey It’s ok if you do, please don't change

Suit of calluses, active and moving callous Anomaly in the algorithm, do the algebralculus I’m all of Alexandria’s information in aggregate Ruling elder giving you the hell that melt the valuables Riddances, grid at my back I’m in the diagonals Evolving, shiv in his back he shatter the manacles Man down, damnit can he manage the variables Manually override these overnight Emmanuels Man, m-m-m-mayday, it’s the tapering of the straightaway The making of a bedlamite, the straightening of the theta wave Working on a way to cure this sudden inexplicable Urgency to secure a sure-shot-shaped paperweight Pay the man, simultaneously in survival mode And looking like a hundred violations of the firecode Designed to die alone moments out the styrofoam But not before these no names go the way of the dial tone, don’t Staring at the sun until one us blinks When it does I’m running for the tunnels, hater blood in the Krink Bloody hell, everyday I wake and one-up a king Whose kingdom come to refer to me as “you wonderful thing” One of the filthiest fish in the azure Cut a political actor to particulate matter Should it present as a pattern put the pig out to pasture This ain’t that action figure in the original package, we in the shit with the taggers Bastards and bullies and baddies, and bitches and bummers Who shuffle out of the shadows with the limbs of another Trapjaw’s head, Stay-Puffed arms and the cape of Vader Over rollerblading Barbie with a bow from Hank the Ranger Bullseyein’ danger, I’m a surgeon at 70 yards As long as the target is not a Snellen chart Hello from some hell and back to autograph an x-mark Leaving the treasure for the next man, the best part, don’t Don’t show up at the get down talking that holy as if you ain’t hell-bound Similarly don’t show up at the get up, talking that hellish As if you ain’t blessed up, just just don’t I‘m on a higher kinda of prowess I’m somewhere in the melee while I’m somewhere doing tai chi on a mountain Only out of bed to pick the lock and smuggle in his Visigoths Who’d love to redesign the hillside little box by little box Or get these businesses to page a stranger on they intercoms The kind that sound real ‘till you realize they did you wrong Oh this is definitely checkers I don’t play chess I sack a city, atlases actually weigh less After, mermaid leather in the truck It’s only in poor taste if you ain’t never been the one Pickle the hand of whoever signal his mans That’s a 5-wick candle and a bib in the sand My advice is: don’t approach him whether sobbing in the copy room Or eating hot pretzels in the mezzanine at Nas and Wu Or at the hobby shop with Hanni copping model glue Or meeting Bobby at the Bronx zoo, don’t Don’t show up at the get down talking that holy as if you ain’t hell-bound Similarly don’t show up at the get up, talking that hellish As if you ain’t blessed up, just just don’t

My dog has blue eyes, cat grew supersize Wig to my L2, It’s something in the food dye Human spit and vinegar funneled to the amygdala Miss him with all the funny stuff, mission control to viscera Come in viscera, guess I’m a little clocked out, Shop-Vac always on, visitors have knocked for hours, It’s fingers in the ears and singing ABC for adults, And look at that, I haven’t seen y’all in months, These are repeatable results, and a pulse in the dead meat sea, I’m not dead yet, beep beep beep, beeeeeeeep, JK, If you celebrated we will check the tape, shame shame, Famous paintings shoot from his fingers to wake and make a day, Like Bargehaulers on the Volga drowning you in late Monet Or maybe Sysyphus from Titian with a save the date For twisting you the Francis Bacon way My dog has blue eyes, cat down to 2 lives Other cat chose violence, good times Movie night, sound down, studio an urgent care Sample surgeon, working out the drums with an inverted chair Thwack! serve ‘em rare, and paired with a warm brie Pears from the side yard, honey from el Coro’s bees The one-man-40 thieves, leave the party wearing 40 pairs of Jordan 3s Lord, wait a week and send a bill for storage fees And some quarters, and a quarter mile of worry beads If it please the court, back on fat tires Headed for the red sun, charros in the cast Iron Ask, land pirates at ‘em, flanked by vampire bats with irregular flight patterns Night master, author of light scattered Maybe do try to move like it matters, the people say What kinda dog is that? What kinda dog is that? That’s a mutt, What kinda dog is that? What kinda dog is that? It’s 5 dogs in one, What kinda dog is that? What kinda dog is that? That’s a good boy My dog has blue eyes, cat less lupine Punks looking paper thin, I say the shit two times Punks looking paper thin, it isn’t worth the blunt force Or even paperclip and real estate up in the junk drawer Running with scissors and the wisdom of the rivers From the wind that shiver timbers to whatever melt the swimmers Traffic and weather reported from child vandals We tell them to be careful, aware they are wild animals Who leap tall buildings and write the manuals Follow where the names drip, you can see the knowledge of the ancients Arms length from the lord of the car graveyard Who bout to charge the hill in a cart from H-mart Saved, ain’t that something 2 board boxes in the trunk, it’s like the ark of the covenant Every cloud of smoke I blow come with a dove in it I hope you're ready for rumble strip, again What kinda dog is that? What kinda dog is that? That’s a mutt, What kinda dog is that? What kinda dog is that? It’s 5 dogs in one, What kinda dog is that? What kinda dog is that? That’s a good boy

Starry night, guided by the guard rail Dark rider, ride up on a car-sized garden snail Double park, special deliver his own barf-mail I ain’t heed the call you sent, it’s smart to fail to call again I’m harm’s way incarnate, shooting marbles at your army men Who hardy har’d and met the architect of horrid REM Sorry, I love the smell of markers in the 4AM And drawing giant letters on whatever signage force the hand How the corner camera had him back in his lobby When all his calls ping a tower in the Valley of Gwanji, eh? Body double obvi, I’m one who is two No I am one who is one who is just too much for the cube I know the “what if” you mull would undo the bubble you blew What if I tell you I am everywhere at once and it's true? I’m playing chess with Picasso, I train to fight with the champ I’m dealing cards to a martian, I’m shooting dice with the Lamb Modern science hasn’t figured out what’s triggering the super-strength But also hasn’t seen him eat a pepper that he grew himself Hydroponic veggie garden, strawberry vine goin pop My bok choy look like sideshow bob My salsa recipe is kept in a safe Sharpest teeth on the block, anyone who disagree is a bot Yo, anyone who isn’t me is a cop He the all-season, seasonal fog, Aes Rock in effect E -f-f-e-c-t All city, all star, all land, air, sea Hand to the most low, always in motion Cargo on the slow boat, called to the quotient E -f-f-e-c-t All I do is get lost, get found, get free Crawl down broadway, stinking like flat black Slalom through the pup tents, puppy in the back pack Bogey to bogey, pony up Posy for the pocket of any remotely chosen one Folk about face in missing man formation A fancy way to say you’re 0 and 1, so much for your Logan’s Run And future saying no to drugs, future saying yes to emotional donut runs Or any UFO that comes Poor thing, I know that take a loss and wave a saucer down Like take me to anywhere but the office or the lost and found At the lost and lost, free to scrap the vector Anti-matter ain’t about to bat a signal back to sender Fed the tracker to a fish and the fish to a bear Check the body cam is on once you’re physically there Where all it take is a theatre major to be the mayor All it take is Anita Baker to keep us anchored That “Same Old Love” in summer get the average hermit Feeling he or she could lift a hummer off a trapped person Crossword killer of EWR’s terminal A Gate 20 on eternal delay In hour 2 all of my letters are curling up from the ledger Circling above us, spelling out the terms of my surrender I been showing up too early for that shift in your Js I do the mile, have a witness play the vid when you wake Catch him playing hooky from the whole abysmal charade I’m at the crib watching Video Days, homeboy in effect E -f-f-e-c-t All city, all star, all land, air, sea Hand to the most low, always in motion Cargo on the slow boat, called to the quotient E -f-f-e-c-t All I do is get lost, get found, get free Crawl down broadway, stinking like flat black Slalom through the pup tents, puppy in the back pack

Aesop Rock Verse: Romper roomer stock the cooler for the rendezvous Pop the cooler, shot the rocket fuel in pamplemouse I’m Rocky 10, type to watch a comet hit the common room Rock a “stop the violence” tee, and pocket dial the Babadook Comic-con-quistador, kamikaze, commonly Referred to as the architect of modern lighthouse keeper-core Ease into the graveyard shifting State-of-the-art safeguard crippling, crimson king Deep breath, poke his head up out the lobby Check both ways, cheat death, any fugazi Chia pet on parade, in whichever Gardens of Eden You merely swivel the camera to see are part mausoleum I am positively cold Operatives like pennies in a pocket with a hole that we are dropping as we go Knocking over what we must, piranhas to the bone, In under 60 seconds flat, Can you honestly say no? 10 AM in the fog feeling anxious, 10 PM in the same exact fog feeling dangerous Dangerous, Dangerous, Dangerous, Dangerous 10 AM in the fog feeling anxious, 10 PM in the same exact fog feeling dangerous

Plate-spinner off a late dinner One fallen plate away from a date with the plague bringer One away from drugged-up in a cage Or all the fun in the world succumb to sudden malaise When his ship come in what a run-in Rutter bugging, sail sliced up, somebody “would you mind if i cut-in’d” Would’ve in the young, wild and stubborn But, honestly the current version might invite the upend Auburn sky with multiple suns comp’d in The rising and setting steady referencing John Venn Assembling these momentary overlapping super suns Beautiful but lumens ain’t some renewable two for one to fool with Fire with fire is not a great fight Fire and fire is on the same side A lotta history there, a couple novas even Hard to see a closed circle in the throws of open season, but, so be it Don’t look down, come sit still, let things fall Cro mag at the park with a bag of birdseed Stolen hand-warmers, flag of world peace Street Roots word puzzle crusher, on commercial feed Circumvent the tall man, searching for eternal peace Nervous from the service, it make him the perfect worker bee To what end, to what even is biodiversity I mean, 4 walls, all hours, no change of clothes Low waterline, dry whole grain oats Whole worth wrapped in what you can make with your bare hands When sitting independent of the greater square dance And whether after all the smoke clear and flares vanish It can actually make another’s arm hair stand Well, can it? Soul Blade or Old Maid I’m somewhere in the middle pretty fizzled on the whole charade Still mixing up the stolen with the homemade Rapping for my life, and being difficult to locate, so be it Don’t look down, come sit still, let things fall On his second Arabica, hecka hackles up Edging outta latency, take me to the miraculum Backing off the b-team, blacking out name tags Never name a rabbit you apprehend for the game-bag Rabbit after rabbit, I’m backlogged I’m bag over shoulder, handing rabbits out to pack dogs Santa clause, unbowed, running from the un-fun Get about as far as the bodega and my lungs are done Did the same shit yesterday And the day before, oh for heaven's sake, You can’t just coach someone to “go out there and resonate” You go out there hoping the residents already ate Revenant, flare gun, life straw, tinder-sticks Headed for the leopard’s mouth, who let him out he isn’t chipped They shoulda never let him out the chrysalis Shit If it’s really wilderness on wilderness on wilderness So Be It Don’t look down, come sit still, let things fall

Ok, fuck all that bullshit though I’m picky, I only open books that glow Whodunnits and cozy mysteries, who stole the crypt keys Who showed the minions to the minced meat, it was me Hut hut, helmet off, blitz the whole bitstream Override the A/V in, with A/V out the in-between IV in, 1 of Epi, 1 of Ralph Steadman Phoebe Judge, EPMD, the Amazing Kreskin His bag is a braided bread, in the oven for 30 days It’s never the same twice, it’s always a perfect bake It’s purple prose when you're looking for just the facts You wanna know where I been, some other where nothing’s mapped Lost at the Waldbaums, faded facing 30-thousand square feet of wrong aisle Long Isle, strong man, roll up in a Pontiac siege tower Fire an arrow 45 degrees down Accounting for the breeze I can do that shit where you nock two arrows at once And shoot to counter separate things I can hit a moving target from a moving target It’s a rabbit from an equine, it’s an ET from a starship The stoicism only misdirection for the metrics It doesn’t represent the actual pressure through the plexus Or that maybe why I’m terrible with names is cause I’m special At memorizing the exits during those same seconds I jumped into a volcano Climbed up, only to say my today is not on no today show All recorded history is forfeit to the fuego It’s infinite present tense, presently on some next Referencing something ancient that play to current events In a way that feels just too flagrant to’ve occurred by itself I know that sound absurd as all hell I don’t even know what I’m saying for certain, surely it’s “help”, uhhhh help? Same bat-time, same bat-channel Same flatline, same plaid flannel Same bad gamble, same graf name on the ax handle Brand new taxidermied mammal on the mantle Man, man, I ain’t sneaking by the sleeping bear I mean, if you ain’t down to let it eat you, why you even here? Pigeon on my shoulder like a goth Rio The putdown Picasso here to un-massage the ego I’m friend or foe depending on the content in your keynote And not above the lobbing of a rotten tomatillo Honestly, it’s getting hard to watch like paradise for parking lots Nevermind that parking lots are paradise, the paradox Oh the places you'll go and exploding aerosols The running with a boiling beaker in a pair of tongs Drink a shot of ant and roach, eat a bowl of Cherry Bombs With peri-peri, no, with chimi-churri sauce Boyhood drawing b-boys with big sneakers Til the shoe fit, now they pouring plaster in the foot print Take it to the lab, show the cast to the bull pen All you get is choruses of “I call bullshit” That’s how a giant flyeth under the radar for so long Y’all underestimate the day-arc I’m on The stay dark at dawn, carnival barker, the autumn Barbisol marksman The can up the arm of his Nautica parka At large, from playing dig dug at the IHOP To undead 3-inch-punching a pine box To, magus of the month, 3 months standing In more than magenta, yellow, and Cyan Ink It’s a wave, it ebb and it swellIt could celebrate the memory or separate the cells it could focus on excelling or accentuate the Hell That’s excellent, Can it send help? Cuz uhhhh… help

We had a visiting artist in the winter of ‘96 Who came to talk about his paintings and the shit that make him tick I think his name was John something John Something If at the assembly you’re allowed to cut the class I was sunk into the bucket, yellow puffy on my lap Bring on John something John Something Hot blooded art freaks take the auditorium 3/4s boorish, 1/4 primordia Keen to absorb the stories of veteran picture-makers Even if an unfamiliar name and face or mystery flavor Say, John something who was punctual to the podium Visibly uncomfortable, having trouble focusing Noticing we’re noticing, he pardons the glitch Says I’m sorry but it’s vital I depart from the script To where? you had one job John something, something’s wrong with John Something Something’s on his mind, he been searching for the words Even standing at the plate, I ain’t anticipate the curve He go, “Last night I saw this new documentary And I can not understate the extent to which it’s affected me” I’m on the edge of my seat He said it’s called “When We Were Kings” This was 1996 He was there to show some photos that would demonstrate his gift I think his name was John something John Something If at the assembly you were seeing something new I‘m new fan before even seeing what he do Bring on John something John Something When We Were Kings is a documentary feature On the ‘74 US heavyweight boxing championship That’s commonly referred to as the Rumble in the Jungle Where you come to punch or die, as neither party’s crying uncle The champ George Foreman, vs the kid Mohammad Ali, in Zaire And other politics involved in the affair Including rare footage leading up to the event Plus, interviews with VIPs remembering the effects So Mr. Something up there, present as it gets Talking Ali and his confidence begetting his success But almost referenced as a magic or some extrasensory “X” That he had witnessed and was duty-bound to tell to someone else Us, and truly I was hung on every sentence Though it probably lasted longer than intended, it felt genuine If a little strange 30 minutes in we have yet to see what you paint, look January 96 He was there to share his work, maybe guide us through the mist I think his name was, hmmm John Something If at the assembly you were tripping off the tangent, But also like “I need to see this flick it sounds fantastic” Or so says John something John Something Low on time John starts blowing through his slides They were ultimately fine But the takeaway is praise for this entirely other mind I’m at the movie theatre, this was Boston 1996 20 years of age, I’m an 80’s Mike Tyson kid We heard about that legendary clashing of the titans But could never have contextualized the metrics or environment Until, 90 minutes of history And images and music, I was riveted infinity That walk out different than you slithered in Every atom in you shifting, christened in the river shit And I still revisit it, this week winter came Cued it up, hit play, it felt like someone visited Any time I pay it forward I say “this was recommended by one of my favorite artist”, ummm This person who in 1996 Gave the only artist lecture I’ve remembered ever since I think his name was James… John something If at the assembly and were headed for the theatre You should put your hands together for the greatest ever speaker He may or may not be named John John Something

I’m too cold, I’m too cold My temperature is just too low I put anti-freeze to these blue lips I got blue toes, I’m too cold My hat raccoon, my coat goose I ain’t never defrost my frozen food I got icicles on my 2 lobes Nose too, I’m too cold I can make any polar bear wear a hat I can make two penguins share a cab I can make 9 reindeer have to quit Even old man winter won’t dap the kid I’m just too cold, I flash freeze I breathe glass, I crack trees Ice cream man, snow falls When my song plays from that dream van I’m brick, sled dogs going on strike Snowmen going inside, snow cat stuck Summertime snowing all night Wardrobe frozen in time Extremities numb, frosty, I beat the heat That strawberry field bout to meet the freeze Y’all ain’t cold, y’all luke warm Too cold is my true form I’m too cold, pack gloves Door knobs just snap off I’d bring fire, I’d ski on back I’d ski to space, I’m freon man Freeze, jump up, joust the windmill How’s that negative a million windchill Sit still or I sit still ya In cold blood, with a hint of silver I’m too cold, I’m too cold I put Yukon Cornelius on hold Bold, cold is the one true god How I’m so cold, cold had to get a new job Hmm…and a new name They call him Cool Breeze, he ain’t never been the same Always staying up late and checking the weathervane In vein, snowy owl feather in the mane That’s too cute, but I’m too cold I play Cold Crush on my cool phone I cold plunge, that hot tub is just fools gold I wear cool clothes

Beauty braid the beast hair And bring him chicken pelmeni in the fake Eames chair I need Sade on a speaker in need of repair The same way all God’s creatures need air Feed 4 fish and a snail I was told hitched I said “make yourself at home”, he been multiplying since Counted 15, there’s a new one every time Like you lend a friend your jeep and he go use it in a crime You told me you was going to Costco How they found it later in a pond outside Chicago Why you only holler when it’s contra in the foxhole Why you never pop in with some tacos and an Optimo? Lasa Apso Rock, I’m not just a phase I’m at the spot in pajamas til im a notch on a blade You in some shit, you hit the hip, I get the rockets engaged Now how does one see a solid, and one a polymer clay? Huh? the job is not the dock of the bay I know that’s not a popular take I’m down to bottle shit up but I guess it got me today I seen the cat break a vase and I broke my bottle the same Look, peak into what’s popping beyond the event horizon It’s a war on dirty dishes to a blur of Ken and Mayim I’m jealous of that Mrs. Meyers lemon-lime alliance They been friends since like forever, always effortlessly vibing I ain’t lyin, the crib is an A/V club Butterfly a piece of tech, liberate the weed crumbs See me to a tedium, dress it as meditation Being lost in repetition, is what get us through the ch-ch-ch-ch- changes Aes is plain aimless, long day of ricocheting at the wrong angles All the way dazed it’s part of what make him dangerous Particle man, party with straight to VHS Ey!! Brought up on some always at the ready, for collect cal l from “it’s Aes i’m at the mall come get me” Pre-celly when both of our time mattered And you ain’t have to probe or notice some kinda pattern The nose knows well in advance of the geiger counter If something’s in the air, when compared to the prior encounter It isn’t Incommunicado, it’s a lotto Even if you buy a ticket, you lucky to win a convo Or a visit, lemme catch you up on the crib I got a palm in the corner about as tall as the kid I got a fig in this other corner, it’s dwarfing the palm A tiny peak into the florals we been hoarding at home Homes, hunchback of Rome, get the cane raised Even aged to a jump-scare away from the grave Yea, 2 can play cave YAY

Yo, you could pull a rabbit out a hat, that’s tricky I know where there’s 12,000 birds in a chimney Your kinda witchcraft take a lot of practice My kinda witchcraft show up in the atmos Yo, sent you a pin And a date in September, lemme pencil you in You could spend the whole summer hiding birds in your coat But come one fall eve, 6:30 on the nose On a grassy knoll, by a school of brick I’ll be sipping something diet with a lime on the rim I’ll be slicing up a kiwi bout the size my fist About to put you on the science of the migrating Swift You like “I didn’t come for science,I had come for a trick” You had come for some magic, dummy, shut-up and sit There’s a couple thousand other people doing the same To see a miracle, smoke and mirrors ruins the frame I’m saying yo, you could Link solid metal rings, that’s tricky 10 birds circling a middle school dizzy Choosing a location to pause along the route To Venezuela well away from the frost Yes yes yall, I’m fried y’all Vaux’s Swifts, loyal to the neighbors, for example This chimney been a favorite since the 80s By 7 it was several hundred birds The show is a slow burn, though it only take a moment to turn Here a thou, there another Synchronized swimmers doing aerials above us A prayer for the lovers, catch this Your kinda witchcraft take a lotta practice My kinda witchcraft ain’t about distraction Yo, focus on the throwdown Sorcery so absurd even Merlin had his phone out 7:15 like a Sistine Chapel Wearing particle effects projected to seem natural Sunset jaw-dropping avian performance The patterns are mathematics, the algorithm enormous And growing, headline, not to be foul Reads: earth mother posterizes wands into flowers And yo, you could turn a wand into flowers, that’s tricky Over 10k cyclone above the city Your kinda witchcraft take a lotta angles My kinda witchcraft witness to the angels You could levitate a volunteer, that’s tricky 12 stacks hit the tornado in a tizzy An act the likes of which we’ve Never seen even when there’s nothing up the sleeve Yes yes y’all, I’m starving Yo, the funneling of swifts into brick Cylinders is seriously some mystical shit I mean, dare I say astonishing Fuckit I’m a say it, it’s astonishing That’s truth stranger, that’s a true banger Plus, they put the show on everyday for month Now I appreciate my card has found its way to the top of the whole deck But homie you just can’t make this shit up As for the homie I showed, I remember smoke from the ears I heard he had to move home, hasn’t spoke in a year Well shit, that’s not supposed to happen Then again that’s classic action re-action Yo, you can pull a rabbit out a hat that’s tricky 12,000 birds disappear into a chimney Your kinda witchcraft take a lotta practice My kinda witchcraft show up in the atmos yo

My lady moved in, I picked her up a gift A miniature aquarium and trip to get some fish 3 Green Tetras, one Scarlet Badis And a touch of plant life, some live, some plastic Got the stuff home, put it in the tank Everyone is thriving, it’s a lively little gang A few weeks pass when plain and clear I hear “oh my god, there’s a snail in here!” Whut? I feel as if she’s gotta be mistaken As we do not have a snail, granted she knows what a snail is I make my way over, and position for the glare I’m looking at a snail that wasn’t previously there Hmmmmm, I feel I’m being pranked But if magic is the reason then really I think it’s great My girl on her computer reading animal facts: “A snail egg can hitch a ride into your tank on a plant”… You motherfucker But wait there’s more… I’m looking at the snail, he seems pretty pleasant we figure let him kick it as honestly shit’s impressive A couple weeks pass, I hear another gasp 7 more snails have appeared on the glass How? Determined to Identify the guests When I stumble on a column of common invasive pests And boom, the number one offender on the pile: The Bladder Snail, known to stowaway and multiply Plus a self-compatible hermaphrodite That means the kids will never have to hear the parents fight We went away for a week, came home to a scene Snail population up in the teens This was weeks ago already It’s been getting extreme We are well over 30, but murder isn’t my thing While the fish have been patient, the situation’s a bummer They be staring at the snails, then, staring at each other like… These motherfuckers But wait there’s more I figure let ‘em kick it, I figure let ‘em kick it, I figure let ‘em kick it I figure let ‘em kick it, I figure let ‘em kick it Folk tell the kiddo, “I think i’m missing some info Just clean the tank and throw the fucking snails out the window” Look, I guess I don’t know how to shut the door When snail zero been here as long as the other 4 I get the reputation as a blight on the tank But I ain’t shoveling ‘em out of what they rightfully claim Even if I was able to one day snag ‘em and bail Exactly fuck I’m supposed to do with a bagful of snails ‘Oh here comes crazy old Aes-y, holding his bagful of snails He also bark at the traffic and drink his tab from a grail’ Not doing it, I love those fish I love those snails, coexist I think about the day it eventually overflows And fills the whole apartment, then fills the whole of Rome A reckoning is upon us, a decision must prevail A sensible re-homing or… Snaaiiillsss!

Trouble takes many forms, in-between shedding skin Some are subtle, some are semaphore holding severed limbs Some in extra innings, seven-seven, no one ever win Propeller hats in motion, no actual developments Impatient ember adding a splash of his own accelerant I’m to the races, sorting through the few the future favors It’s, those of you that let the pooch chew through the computer cables And grow food based on the lunar phases Who maneuver right, I’m snoopy on the roof at night Staring at the canopy, like can I peak into the light Or am I needed here at home, a human being supervised Stupefying overseers, zoom in on the pupil size Choose your fighter them or me or everyone vs. entropy The only ever undefeated zero artificial intel, NPC Or that’s the tendency, a bullet train to randomness That started out successfully, and ended at abandon ship Ok I’m mostly here to catch the wave Somewhere between the Etta James and psycho killer ques que ce Check the resume of monkey wrenches into engine bays And total hours ascending at some unrelenting MPH I break at MLK and terra incognitus Where the sidewalk ends at lenses eyeing terrifying genius And it smells like something holy put a L up for his peoples Pizza from that one spot, hello from the zenith No response, so far Bowl of the Gods, the color of Violet Beauregard Dr. No cigar, I hand nothing out to nobodies with no regard There is not a satellite of any worldly origin That point to a location this impossibly inordinate Meanwhile somewhere that you haven't tried Rumors of a round table breaking up the staff of life… Yeah, shit is jazzercise Homeboy Sandman Verse: However you consider the kid Won’t find me sitting rhythmless watching a vid of a vid How many pics before the difference ‘tween a pit and abyss? I’m in the mix without a logo on the fit or the lid The mercenary thrown and parrying fists Fighting the various nefarious kitsch That’s known for marrying rich Not of the ilk that’s always milking a fib Mumbling guff, my infrastructure wasn’t built on a grid I’m just taking me a shot in the dark But if you never taken off to take a walk in the park And more concerned about the take instead of making a mark Being seen instead of sweet, you’re not deserving of a seat on the ark Skedaddle while I channel the source Skedaddle while I channel the sauce, boss As a youth I’s always hooping on the main courts Cats be souped up but a soup is not a main course Love, hope, pain, loss These are just a couple of the issues that I don’t force Technically “couple” means two Guess I mean few, I review I know you’re feeling hollow from following these fools Get wit the mister fix it that don’t even need tools Really what in the devil? cats ain’t on my level They are gonna need stools, enough being cool I know it’s cruel but might be time to drain some gene pools Abolish and demolish fake and use the real estate to build schools Somebody gotta make the right moves Set the right moods, Lice rules I got some great news This time I’m going viral, I just shot some great nudes I’m so fly I just ate dehydrated space food For real. This is buns of steel Lupe Fiasco Verse: Take a break from Persecuting idolatry In the countryside with hunting knives as it runs and hides Cuz I wanna try and hold it by the underside Then jump and dunk a pumpkin pie, stuff a stocking with a Thunder thigh I want to put things into things Principally in vitro fertilize kings into queens What you mean what it means I just like to write brothers like wings on machines It’s suspicious like Marines on they deens If you pull up a Better-Than-They-Are-Dar, I’d be a ping on screen Pong Bar! On the turntables like a Pyongyang Ping Pong All Star Smoking on an all tar Malbar (Marlboro) Hot box y’all talking like it’s y’all car Driving with drivers in the backseat like a golf cart Man, if y’all start, I’ll divide this place like it’s a Walmart That’s low hanging fruit All my lines come with old dangling boots Don’t park in a tow spot And yet I walk around with my heel in the toe box with no socks with a Princess, and a yeti And a old golden robot, a Dr Schols with a hole cuz hiking took a toll I mean a whole lot The other looks like it’s whole life it’s been fighting foos Like Dave Grohl got stole on and cold cocked With the tongue of cobra and the sole of a pol pot Side bar I really want that old watch that looked like gold rocks Hit me in the comment section with directions if you know a spot And if they lying somebody reply to that comment with a “No it’s not” In regards to flattery like an open pop It’s a battery with a broken dock It’s not a Rollie, sweating to the oldies

Used to pair cereal and cartoons, I don't know if there’s a better way Now I’m going hungry in a war room, it’s similar but it is not the same When I walk in be cool No sudden moves, only coming thru to refuel Be forewarned: my skin reads as steel wool Hook hand with a haymaker on a shopping spree into your gene pool I might change into y’alls dad’s eyes, looking disappointed in the real you Son, that’s ushering some abominable milieu in That kill off any climate we put time into, mildewin’ Tilt sensor on get defensive, I’s weeding through the some old highlight reels Hindsight is like trying to prune the amazon back to one bonzai tree When I walk in be easy, sign the contract, no eye contact No-eyed tomcat in a “Free Emile” tee, no ID, I’m so unwieldy I’m, over the river, I’m into the woods, recruiting the pick of the iffiest wolves Who fittingly follow me back to the city, to butcher a dinner with hooves Lo-fi’s most high, I’m the most low, mind the go code Mind the driveway to your giant show boat Ya might just show up to a private toll road You might, pay to attain what you already own It’s part of trend, it’s part of the start of the end Or maybe it’s farther along then we outta pretend Used to pair cereal and cartoons, I don't know if there’s a better way Now I’m going hungry in a war room, it’s similar but it is not the same Be Cool Be…Cool When I walk in be calm Hands on the table, cameras on and playing recon Be forewarned, my skin reads as pete moss GT’s that spin kick the most harmonious pea pod That heart rate go adagio to some Art Blakey-day bebop In no time at all, these 2 palms touching, charging up that fireball Knees bent, nerves worn, nose bleeding, perfect form Ears bleeding, eyes bleeding, this ain’t just some ordinary parlor trick It’s perfect storming, board up your apartment shit When I walk in be low key, don’t trust no one, don’t mind the pundits Stink-eye for these guy smileys, if you love something, you don’t like nothing That’s not opinion, entertainment go spin the bottle ’til you kiss the mamba I’m ten thousand hours In-a-gadda, with 10 shades of Les Miserables Information battering the senses Here we see the mamba eating something fatter than its neck is Which is also entertaining, he had to take off the necklace Maybe everybody’s destiny’s defending something selfish, yea Used to pair cereal and cartoons, I don't know if there’s a better way Now I’m going hungry in a war room, it’s similar but it is not the same Be Cool Be…Cool

Black plums getting fatter every summer Half us in the cabinet getting sadder every upper Classic outdoorsmen scratching panic on the cave walls Strays out front, but, plums like baseballs Plucked from the arms of the earth, hell fire at the school How are you on about some garden dessert I’m in the cradle of craters same as your boot in the trench Defending everything from something, plum juice on my chin Good in whatever the newest abandoned shoe in the web They hit that sticky thread a sled into a foot of cement For every bullet I have caught in my teeth I earn the privilege of a trip be in awe of the tree A hundred years in the future I bet some photo exists Of some historic moment happening somewhere close to the crib Maybe some heavenly zealot yelling and wielding a piece And there I am in the back enjoying that seasonal treat Oblivious and doing my version of smelling a rose Stupid look on my face, I am never in vogue I was probably in my head about the essence of hope Taking a second to effectively connect with the whole Look, ever since a kid invisibility important I been dipping out the lobby, body painted brick and mortar Tryin to pick up on a pattern in the numbers Like, black plums getting fatter every summer I’m a Particle - a minute quantity of matter The least possible amount of data I’m a passenger - a rogue awol from the chorus In the field, something dark at the wheel, I'm ultimately a tourist Panic invictus, damage all indexed Granted there is no real standardized litmus One man’s damage is part of another’s rituals Pick one: hindsite or eyes like pinwheels Well, acceleration’s only half the magic When there's looking like you’re doing 60 doing 5 in traffic The county’s slowest roller half the time I’m going backwards How I’m always there before you ain’t a scientific matter If you pick a lane, see if you could be the truth For 30 seconds turn the shortcut to the scenic route Piece of cake, show me what your godspeed reads like Olives by the river under osprey in obscene light Black plums getting fatter in the mean time A/B ‘em with a different time sweet time How it both beefed-up and yet refined Even hyenas seen reaching for the tree-line Lions turn vegan, carnivores tend to the plants Vampires make jellies and jams It’s a pillar of the still life, steady the hand Land the pit a couple inches from your head in the sand Act 1: wait for the sun, Act 2: same with the water Act 3: is the summoning of the mother Out to counter any blood pressure upper one could suffer Black plums, pie crust, flour, sugar, butter, I'm a… I’m a Particle - a minute quantity of matter The least possible amount of data I’m a passenger - a rogue awol from the chorus In the field, something dark at the wheel, I'm ultimately a tourist

The study isn’t peer-reviewed, it’s one peer-less Student getting weird in a room Putting the human condition through a series of wretched labors A herculean dozen to plug in your emulator Updated for home version-ers, who board up in they teepee Treating personal misfortune as horses of Diomedes Me? I’m up to my neck in Nemean lions A pride of idea-eaters, plus, weevils in the rice thins Own worst, snubbin’ upper management I’m managing a thin skin, the coveralls are pangolin Slang from the valley of calculated endangerment Danger conservationist, constantly in the way of shit Came in like a wrecking ball But really only maintain thanks to the 5-second rule Vortex staring back from the reflecting pool They trying to separate the Jeckyl, via centrifuge Presto, keeper of the keys I been keyed into the tempo I can see a team leader reaching for the red phone I can tell you who won’t even be at the crescendo XO, change-o Day of hail storms ricocheting off the rain coat I can see your trail guide waiting for the payphone I can tell you who won’t even make it to the late show, presto change-o Little fragments of what happens when you plug-in After having been unplugged it feels emphatically disgusting Little “pardon can i borrow a lighter” Cuing a little flashing back to the apartment On fire Little surgeries and docu-series murderers And and run-ins with the concept of object permanence Little get the cake, little celebrate Then celebrate again when you give it the hell away Brain on black smoke, belly on the breed of lamb That couldn't leap the sleepy fence, and fell in Harina PAN It’s me you fucking dummies, I forgot the code word Old dog, dogs continue to eat his homework, what? I see y’all job sucks, picked last No rhythm, not tuff, wack shoes, shitty tats Stupid life, stupid face, bad hair, sitting duck Dead alive, set the high score on who gives a fuck I been several seasons with the cheetahs in the tall grass To me it’s all an impala with no hall pass All that balderdash, all these talking heads Futzing with the public good, hawking hate and spawning eggs Then they wonder why the kid is swinging from the chandelier Body painted safety orange, screaming out “the champ is here” As if it’s not a healthy response To whatever type of zealotry you presently on, wrong Presto, keeper of the keys I been keyed into the tempo I can see a team leader reaching for the red phone I can tell you who won’t even be at the crescendo XO, change-o Day of hail storms ricocheting off the rain coat I can see your trail guide waiting for the payphone I can tell you who won’t even make it to the late show, presto change-o Pitching for the Pigeon Hill Road Molly-whoppers In a first to a million or model for jolly roger It’s bad news in casual clodhoppers I hop over cops and robbers and godfathers Stark white knuckles on the wheel Jesus never took Unless he needed me embedded in some lingonberry bush Off the 495, otherwise I blame it on the fire and ices 50 years of fighting for his pilot light It doesn't take the keenest of empaths To know you probably feeling irretrievably dead last A steadfast emptiness, maybe aggressive idling Maybe a forehead to horn, engine off entirely Every offed head grows back multiplied The secret is you close the cut and cauterize Eye of pyromancer Here to ride the realest lightning through the driest diorama, like Presto, keeper of the keys I been keyed into the tempo I can see a team leader reaching for the red phone I can tell you who won’t even be at the crescendo XO, change-o Day of hail storms ricocheting off the rain coat I can see your trail guide waiting for the payphone I can tell you who won’t even make it to the late show, presto change-o

I ain’t even got a single duck in a row But when I push off of the dock, fish jump in the boat I’m a guff-giving tuffy in odyssey fire country Where miserables are quick to pull the crocodile dundee I’m comfortable in sneakers and a plain white tee When I give 2 cents, send a pale rider each I like shave ice on a blanket by the sea And seeing both riders engaging as wild geese Parachute pants on a paranoid mass I’m probably the source of the polaroid flash Office walls that overdose on broken math and post-it notes Plans to build a time machine, photos of Watteau at home Holy roman artifacts a piece of wood from Noah’s boat Shrapnel from the mars attack, code to Homer’s mobile phone Impossible ticket stubs Membership at all these fancy cricket clubs, listen I ain't even got a single duck in a row But when I push off of the dock, fish jump in the boat, nahmean I ain’t even got a single place to be b But when I walk down the block, strays trail in a V, nahmean Great horned owl in acrylic on the drumhead Lamb’s ear growing by the side door, what next? Occupy every inch of the opera twice at the same Without a pill or wires right to the brain They want his name by the X, I use an X for the name It’s like I’m basically dead, strangers sending bouquets I’m alert and oriented, just protective of the method Of producing fresh fruits and vegetables in the desert Good news blow through town like bad news Left with all the bad dogs and Himalayan yak chews That guy’s on a strange path But he also had pizzazz and a few amazing track suits True, rats run back to Nimh I got the wind at my back, I got a cache of film I plan to film the expanse, I pan to catch every hill I practice radical acceptance never crack in the kiln, I’m sayin I ain’t even got a single duck in a row But when I push off of the dock, fish jump in the boat, nahmean I ain’t even make a single sound when I move But when I make it down the mountain wolves howl at the moon, nahmean Slime mold, never do as i’m told E-I-E-I-O Deep dive into the fried slide show Sorry I don’t corner cut, I’m more than just a line of code So are you but you prefer illusion of the cut and dry Where I prefer the side effect of several billion butterflies, in chorus It keep a tourist long lens filming Whatever in the forest had the dog’s head tilting I’m a simple man, man the pinhole cam Scan the info in, skin the sycophant Short story: once I shook the Rza’s hand Played it cool, but coulda yelled “I’m going to Disneyland” Plan for whimsy, it’s certainly raining upwards An advantage for the raised to raid the cupboards of others Take it up with the buzzards, I’m buzzing off to the haunt If you listen you can still hear me guffaw with the gong, yo I ain't even got a single duck in a row But when I push off of the dock, fish jump in the boat, nahmean I ain’t even got a single horse in the race But when i go to get the car, there's a horse in the way, nahmean

In ‘86 I had a hamster named Elizabeth Got her at the mall with that whole Habi-trail tube system shit Cried a month when she escaped captivity all by herself That winter mother found her behind the drier alive and well Strangely, I recall that over how and when she died I’m messaging my brother now, he said she left a second time But like for realsies Well shit if that don’t beg a different take The triumph ain’t the coming home it’s in the second prison break It’s interesting what the memory cherry picks and what it pardons We’re nothing if not silver linings stuffed into compartments Like some printer’s tray repurposed for shelving your tiny tinctures That each remind you of a specific time you were injured Interacting with the living, those shifting lines of scrimmage Always situated just behind some hypnotizing visage If you're at all susceptible to a finger that beckons From out a curious portal make sure your briefed at the entrance Identify a thousand different snakes Turn around, still trust a motherfucker out gate The recommended avenue is as he say not as he do But as he do if you annoy yourself with you're own ballyhoo As he do, then people be like “wow, you’re such a hypocrite” And I’m like “yo, you can’t be this completely fucking stupid I hope you suffer horribly Like, I’m not even a violent person which makes me a double hypocrite” Yo yo yo, fashion from the 80s, mahi mahi fresh from the banana leaf Deliver the man to Lahaina’s banyan tree Rent me a 2-seater that boast an uncommon wheel count That outta town embarrassment barreling through some speed round Before cars, how did man express the sentiment Of needing to recklessly drive a car through a weather event? Out the other side, heaven-sent, what a ride Feathered hair that never relent, summer summertime Smell the roses, right outside the den of lobos Who could smell the Polo fanny pack coated in melted Rolos The trope is play it cool and act like you supposed to be there But I’m not a cool actor, I do not play, I do declare Next summer y’alls panels on my fear of abandonment Get the force of 1001 unbelievable shenanigans Friendly hangs effortlessly peppered with contentious slang And extras, til you playing 20 questions with interrobangs What the fuck, how the hell, who are you Is hope even a factor in the forward you are looking to I ain’t throwing shade I’m only asking for this final scene I don’t need that energy around me when I’m finding peace 6’4, 240, gussied up and camera shy I’m just trying to eat but all they see is spotted lantern-fly Tantrum with biggest fucking baby in candy aisle I could not have picked a better day to r-r-randomize