When I need to be patient, I stand on my toes
With my nose to the grindstone, chin raised high,
With an ear to the ground when there’s something afoot,
Retracing the bounce in the footsteps I took.
Still walking in exile with eyes wide open?
Or treading on eggshells with eyes shut tight.
I took my eye off the ball but I give it my best shot –
Shoot from the hip flask fast like a fish –
A frog in my throat makes me sing like this:
Grrrrrrr I breathe with my lungs
But I live with my liver and I speak with my tongue
And I run with my legs and I drink for the fun.
Each morning when I wake and everything is fresh,
I stand and toast the sun – the world has just begun. My words flow fluently, I flick them off my tongue
And they float through my throat and my lips like a drum,
Authentic, eccentric, a bit acrobatic,
Linguistic, tongue-twisted, and not automatic.
Been speaking the language since one year old
And I’m speaking it now, ‘cause it’s good for the soul.
With my nose to the grindstone, chin raised high,
With an ear to the ground when there’s something afoot,
Retracing the bounce in the footsteps I took.
Still walking in exile with eyes wide open?
Or treading on eggshells with eyes shut tight.
I took my eye off the ball but I give it my best shot –
Shoot from the hip flask fast like a fish –
A frog in my throat makes me sing like this:
Grrrrrrr I breathe with my lungs
But I live with my liver and I speak with my tongue
And I run with my legs and I drink for the fun.
Each morning when I wake and everything is fresh,
I stand and toast the sun – the world has just begun. My words flow fluently, I flick them off my tongue
And they float through my throat and my lips like a drum,
Authentic, eccentric, a bit acrobatic,
Linguistic, tongue-twisted, and not automatic.
Been speaking the language since one year old
And I’m speaking it now, ‘cause it’s good for the soul.
When I get the chance I take a look around,
I stop and fill my lungs – the world has just begun.
I learnt my trade with a paper and pen
And I love chasing rhythms and rhymes
But sometimes when I run round in circles again and again
And I need something new and so what I do then is
I steal ideas from the books that I’ve read,
I write with my right hand, and think with my head
I stomp with my boots but I watch where I tread,
‘Cause we’re stepping on ground where our ancestors bled
And they said we should care for the world where we live
And respect one another and stay positive
With our heads and our hearts and our eyes in a line
All wide open and ready for now is our time:
Each day we’re born anew, our veins all filled with blood,
The day is yet to come – the world has just begun.