Holdin’ Out

the outcry of roots grown deep in the age of materialism

You know I’ve heard it all before: “Don’t plan from your fears”
But there’s bound to be a war between my conscience and the dried up tears
Though I know the place of peace is right within my soul
Yet my flesh keeps crying foul, cos it needs a little more

I was born and bred never to know such insecurity
Given all the necessary tools to never have to face true jeopardy
But the journey is its own, a servant to it shall I be
Even if it means I must roam, its gonna teach me faith to set me free

I feel like a tree with roots grown deep
The branches exposed to a winter freeze
Holding out through a cold season of poverty
And when its all gone I’m gonna bear new fruit and spread new seed

’Tis the season of creative possibility set in the midst of a materialistic desert
Wrestling daily with the delicate balance between initiation and patience
Between action and waiting
Between going after and letting come
An intricate exercise in harmonizing Afrikan and Western impulses (as well as indigenous and cosmic inheritances)

Each day passing is full of moments stolen, or rather given? so I can awaken to the miraculous and know that manna will always fall just when I need it most
Take a pick-axe and pry the foundation cos sooner or later this house of cards is bound to fall
And rip up a board from the shop floor and peer into the basement,
Behold, two glints in the dirt

See, the struggle is not a burden but a blessing
For I know I’m gonna grow like the baobab tree immovable and wise
So I keep the dream alive and shed the mask
And may the Bartender pour me a glass of the finest wine!

We are trees with roots grown deep
Our branches exposed to a winter freeze
Holding out through a cold season of poverty
Cos when its all gone we gonna bear new fruit and spread new seed . . .

This song-poem is part of the ‘Outcries’ of Roots Grown Deep, an album which can be downloaded here: https://joelkaraboelliott.bandcamp.com/album/roots-grown-deep-outcries