Ed Howard,
Minister of Business Affairs,
First Poet's Church of the Latter Day Egyptian Revisionists

Pimpin and Spirituality

by Marvin X, Prime Minister of Poetry

I am not a pimp. I am a hustler, sometimes a trick. A hustler waits for no one to bring his money, he gets his own. It is beneath his dignity to wait or depend on a woman or anyone to get his hustle going. All he needs is product, almost anything will do, even a roll of toilet paper he can hustle. But the pimp's thing is women, he considers himself their manager and they consider him the same, usually by mutual agreement, often by torture, kidnapping and exploitation, including mind control, deprivation of sleep, food and isolation.

Having never been a pimp, I cannot speak with total authority, although I have been around pimps off and on my entire life, from growing up on 7th Street in Oakland to hanging with pimps in New York. My brother's claim to fame is pimping. He never desired anything else in life but pimping, as a result his life has been pimping and prison, nothing else. I have been deprived of his brotherly love because of his pimping and prison life.

Many of my friends were pimps, including some of my Muslim brothers who said they made their ho's make salat or prayer before they went out on the stroll. I was around Muslim pimps on the east coast who had their women selling bean pies and whoring to buy Crack.

More recently I had the pleasure of meeting several pimps-in-recovery at my theatre in San Francisco's Tenderloin district when we produced the Black Radical Book Fair in 2004. The pimps included Fillmore Slim, Gansta Brown, Jimmy Starr and Rosebud Bitterdose. They claim to have given up pimpin and have indeed written books and films on the gospel of the game.

In the case of Fillmore Slim, he is still greatly respected as the godfather of pimpin, especially on the West coast. He hooked up with me to see if I could help him get the message to young people that pimpin ain't easy and there's a price to be in the game. If you willing to pay the price, then go for it, but just know you are going to pay. Fillmore paid with several prison terms.

He says these young brothers call themselves pimpin but ain't hardly pimpin, ain't doing nothing but messin up the game. Don't have no style, no class. If you saw the BET awards last night, Prince was the only artist with class, the others looked like bums and derelicts, especially the hip hop brothers. As Fillmore said about young pimps, they don't know how to dress. And he said they most certainly don't know how to treat a lady. They want to beat women. He said they don't understand if they don't beat her, she might come back. They want to kill another nigguh if she runs off with him. This ain't part of the game. Don't be killing people, he said, like you own the woman. You don't own nobody. When she choose you, she with you, when she choose somebody else, let her go. Fillmore said these young nigguhs act like they in love. And keep a night job, he says, because pimpin ain't easy.

Young brothers so close up on the ho a trick can't get to her. And the nigguh look more like a woman than the woman. You don't know who to turn a date with, the pimp or the ho. He got earrings in both ears, blond hair and pants hangin off his behind, living at his mama's house, pimpin on a bicycle. Nigguh please.

Pimp like Bush. Get you a real ho like Condi Rice that can ho all over the world, that can serve presidents, prime ministers, generals. Dr. Bey used to say, "If you going to do something, do it in a big way." Some would say Dr. Bey did right and wrong in a big way (may he rest in peace). And my daddy said, "If you gonna be something, be the best."

The white man is the world's greatest pimp: he pimpin you and yo woman, but you don't have a clue. On BET last night he pimped some of our greatest artists, had them parading as nothing but naked whores.

Nigguh pimps got babies on the street, eleven, twelve and thirteen. What they know about ho'in? They don't know how to put a rubber on a nigguh, let alone give head. They need to be in school. Get their GED. And the pimp needs to go with them to get his. Imagine the social consequences of over a million children dropping out of school each year, over 50% of them. Society, including the school, the religious community and the politicians are responsible for children choosing the pimp life, especially when our nation needs scientists and engineers if we are to have a future beyond pimpin and whoring.

posted 29 June 2006

Wish I Could Fly Like a Hawk

Wish I Could Fly Like a Hawk

Wish I could fly like a hawk
just soar above earth
silent
gliding smooth
no noise
silent
observing all
madness below
rats scurrying
snakes in the grass
wish I could fly like a hawk
sometimes in motion still
wings frozen in flight
yet moving
wish I could be hawk
above the madness of it all
the meaningless chatter
cell phone psychosis
talking loud saying nothing
why are you breathing
jogging
without meaning purpose
no mission beyond nothingness
absorbing air from the meaningful
who subscribe to justice
let me fly above the living dead
let me soar
let me dream
imagine
another time and place
another space
this cannot be the end game
the hail marry
let me soar above it all
wings spread wide
let me glide
ah, the air is fresh up here
did I make it to heaven
did I escape hell
come with me
do not be afraid
the night is young
let us fly into the moon
see the crescent
so beautiful
let us fly into the friendly sky
wings spread wide
we are strong and mighty
the hawk.
--Marvin X
10/10/10

To Egypt With Love

Monday, January 31, 2011
To Egypt With Love

To Egypt With Love

Dedicated to my son, Abdul (Darrel P. Jackmon, RIP)

He studied at the American University in Egypt
he fell in love in Egypt
some Ghanian ambassador's daughter
I told him don't give no woman the key to your apartment
he never did
not even the ambassador's daughter, he told me
he loved Egypt
he spoke the language
graduated from UC Berkeley in Arabic and Middle Eastern Literature
He said the Africans were slaves throughout the Middle East
The Arabs took their passports
making them virtual slaves
their racism was pervasive
totally unsustainable
yet understandable
for they are not the aboriginal Arabs
they are not the Arabs of Sabah
Queen of Sabah's land
who ruled from Canaan to Jerusalem to the Persian Gulf
Queen of Sabah
who fascinated King Solomon

My son loved Arabic and Persian
He got a Fulbright fellowship to the University of Damascus
He said Syrian intelligence officers interrogated him daily
why was he hanging around those filthy Palestinians
Why did he go to the American embassy to swim

He said, Daid, they tried to recruit me for the C.I.A
The Mormons controlled the US Embassy
they wanted me to be a Mormon

Toward the end my son became a Mormon
He lived with Eldridge Cleaver
himself a Mormon, for a time
My son said Eldridge got strange phone calls
from strange people
we know Eldridge was dr. strangelove

The Ghanaian woman came to see my son in Cali
I do not know what happened
but she went home

In the end he loved a Portuguese woman
he loved Brazil
said he wanted to live in Bahia
dance Condomble rituals

a man of the world
at his funeral came his friends
no black man no black woman
Asians whites
after all
he was a man of the world
what could he say to a nigguh in the ghetto
his travels to Africa, Egypt, Jerusalem, Brazil,Japan, what could he say to a ghetto nigguh
In Japan, he said they teach the women to say three things:
yes, thank you and I'm sorry
but the Japanese woman he got pregnant said no to his black baby
so she could go home in peace
her family told her don't bring no black baby home.

Abdul loved the Middle East
He loved Persian
the poetry
the rhythms of the language
of the poets who do the dance of the dervish.

Egypt may fall today or tomorrow
but my son will be pleased
to know Pharaoh Mubarak is no more
the regime is history
what a story to tell my son
who walked into a train
in his midnight madness
Dr. Hare said he was like Malcolm and Martin
he was 38, they were 39
but nonetheless he self destructed
suicide and homicide is the same
simply different sides of the same coin.

Let Egypt arise for the sons and daughters who have suffered
a long suffering that has come to an end.
Let Mubarak be a page in history
a pitiful note in the eternal narrative of a people.
--Marvin X
1/31/11

When the light is shown to you

When the light is shown to you
will you deny the blessings of your Lord
When his angels call out to you
will you deny the blessings of your Lord
When joy awaits you
will you deny the blessings of your Lord.
Do not call your Lord to heed Him not
Shall your Lord serve you in vain?
Shall your Lord await you in vain?
Come into the house of your Lord to find solace
Come into the upper Room from the den of iniquity.
Let the Lord shower you with blessings until your cup runneth over.
--Marvin X, Prime Minister, First Poet's Church

Movement, Pt. 1

1. 


2. movement, Pt. I




4. by WordSlanger


5. on Sunday, March 27, 2011 at 9:51am




7. descending from the invisible dog star


8. looking for memories atop pyramids


9. dreams of falling


10. grounded feet walking


11. walked to the shore

long way from home mama ,

I can’t see you anymore

boats chains whips ropes feet running flying over ground

underground bound

never hold I down

chariots trains cadillac’s scrapers

64’s 2 & 4 dr.

wide body a-frame dual exhaust whistle tipped lifted on 26’s

automatic manually shifted space ships dreams of flying black & gifted searching upliftment

--Ayodele Nzinga, Senior Minister of Poetry and Theatre, First Poet's Church http://anzinga.wordpress.com/

First Poet's Church Visits Center of Hope Church

Bishop Ernestine Reems,

Founder, Center of Hope Church

Oakland CA

Marvin X,

Prime Minister of Poetry,

First Poet's Church of the Latter Day Egyptian Revisionists

Ptah Mitchell, Minister of Poetry and Education, First Poet's Church

Aries Jordan, Minister of Poetry and Intergenerational Affairs

First Poet's Church Visits

East Oakland's Center of Hope

On Sunday, the First Poet's Church ministers of poetry, Aries Jordan, Ptah Mitchell, and prime minister Marvin X, visited East Oakland's legenary Center of Hope, founded by Bishop Ernestine Reems. Rev. Brandon Reems is acting pastor. But have no illusion that the 82-year old Bishop Reems has lost her Holy Ghost spirit. At one point this International Day, with the congregation dressed in African attire and a Japanese choir in the house, Bishop Reems told her congregation they were Isrealites and needed to be killed for their iniquities. She told them, "Don't be looking at me crosseyed. Sometimes I want to kill you!"

The Queen Mother slipped off her shoes at one point in her sermon, then continued, "You got to see yourself as a winner. Think as a winner, knowing you are annoited to win." The Church choir gave an up tempo version of We Shall Overcome that fit in with the rapidly moving events around the world. It was the most powerful version of the Civil Rights classic Marvin X had ever heard. When her son, Bradon, took over the pulpit, he read from Second Chronicles, wherein we are told to be still and let the Lord fight our battles. Just be still. If you move you just mess things up when God is got the entire situation under control. Get out the way and let God fight this battle. You've done all you can do. This is why you are so frustrated and depressed, because you are fighting when you simply need to be still. Marvin X thought about the words of his mentor, now ancestor, John Douimbia, "Marvin you fought battles you didn't even need to fight."

Bishop Reems had made a similar point in her sermon. "You women worried about a no good man, just let God handle him. You just pray and see if God don't bring that no good man home and he won't even know why he's home. Yes, let the Holy Spirit bring him home. Just be still and prayerful."

Look at the motion in the ocean, in the mountains and hills, rivers and streams. Look at the motion in the people around the world standing up for righteousness. We see some of them simply stand still and refuse to move, and yet this is enough to make tyrants leave town.

When the First Poet's Church ministers were called, only Marvin X was supposed to read a poem, but he said a few opening remarks on the recent visit to juvenile hall, arranged by Rev. Brandon, and how he was overwhelmed with emotion seeing the babies locked up for serious crimes. Rev. Brandon told him later that the visit by the poets to juvenile hall is the talk of the town, that he hated to admit the youth said they wanted to hear from the poets rather than the Rev. Marvin X's classic Fable of the Black Bird has shaken the incarcerated youth.

Rather than read himself, Marvin X deferred to his associate ministers, Ptah and Aries Jordan. Ptah read a spiritual poem on having God inside yourself, rather than tripping on the outside, homicide, suicide, eastside, westside, northside, southside. When Aries discovered she had left her book of poems on the pew, she decided to sing a song from her church days. The two junior ministers of poetry rocked the church in the heart of East Oakland, next door to the infamous Castlemont High School. In her sermon, Bishop Reems had questioned why do we pay taxes but don't have the same quality schools as white areas of the Bay? Castlemont is one of the poorest schools in Oakland.

Bishop Reems was so estatic with the poets she invited us to return for a program featuring our group of poet/authors that will address youth issues. Before Marvin X stepped down with his ministers of poetry, he reminded Bishop Reems she had contacted him many years ago, 1977, when he worked with then Born Again Christian Eldridge Cleaver. At her request, Marvin encouraged Eldridge to make his first appearance at a black church, Center of Hope. Bishop Reems said she would be honored to help Marvin establish the First Poet's Church of the Latter Day Egyptian Revisionists.

--Marvin X, Prime Minister of Poetry, First Poet's Church

3/27/11

Biography of Bishop Ernestine Reems Gale Contemporary Black Biography:

Ernestine Cleveland Reems minister (clergy); founder; writer Personal Information Born Ernestine Cleveland, in 1932, in Oklamugee, OK; daughter of Bishop Elmer Elijah (E.E.) Cleveland and Matilda Cleveland; married Paul Reems (died 2000); children: Brondon and Brian.Education: Patton Bible College, Oakland, CA.Memberships: (Selected) Board of Directors, Monument International Church Assemblies, 2000; trustee, International Charismatic Bible Ministries; Board of Regents, Oral Roberts University, Tulsa, OK; Chairman of the Board, Hope Housing Corporation; Chairman of the Board, Hope Development Corporation. Career Center of Hope Community Church, Oakland, CA, founder, pastor, 1968-; E.C. Reems Women's International Ministries, Oakland, CA, founder, 1988-.

Life's Work

Pastor Ernestine Cleveland Reems has experienced pain, suffering, and hurt. She understands firsthand the troubles of poverty and rejection. And yet she is quick to admit that her life has indeed been, as she told Contemporary Black Biography, "beautiful." Brimming with positive energy, Reems has dedicated her life to serving Jesus Christ and, through His Word, has brought hope and promise into the lives of others. Ernestine Cleveland Reems was born in 1932, in Oklamugee, OK, a small town outside of Tulsa, the third of nine children born to Elmer Elijah (E.E.) and Matilda Cleveland. Shortly after her birth, the family moved to Parker City, OK and then to Brooksville, OK, as E.E. Cleveland established himself as a traveling preacher. Reems remembers growing up in a loving household, even though her father was often preaching out of state for extended periods of time while her mother supported her father and tended to the family garden. The family lived in a one-room shack, and Reems still recalls the pot-bellied stove which graced it. In 1939, Pastor Cleveland's travels took him to California. Upon arrival, he vowed to bring his family to join him, for he believed that California held the promise of an improved quality of life. When Reems was just nine years old she moved with her family to Richmond, CA.

Her father could not afford train tickets for the entire family, so he found a ride for the already-engaging and outgoing Reems with a local principal and his wife. When Reems arrived in Los Angeles, CA, she initially lived with an acquaintance of her father's, Mrs. McKinney, whose family cared for Reems until she reunited with her family. Reems quickly witnessed how well her father had been received in California, for the deacons of the church where he preached built the Cleveland family a three-room home. Ambitious and creative, Matilda Cleveland then expanded upon the initial structure and converted the space into an eight-room house, adding bedrooms and a sun porch.

In Reems' mind, her family possessed one of the nicest African American houses in Richmond. The Clevelands not only instilled in their children the importance of hard work, but they also impressed upon them the value of resourcefulness. Reborn in Christ Reems's life took a dramatic turn when, at age 13, she was stricken with tuberculosis. Because the disease was highly contagious, she was forced to move to Wiemar, CA, where she spent a year, and returned home only to suffer a relapse. Once again found herself in Wiemar. After struggling for several years with no cure and no hope, Reems had a realization--it was not for her own purposes that she was created, but for God's. After she decided to devote her life to God, Reems recovered from her illness. That Reems should turn to her faith is not surprising. She was raised by parents who were intensely committed Christians and who, Reems told CBB, "loved, loved, loved God." Initially she did not consider herself a believer and instead, as Reems told CBB, wanted "to do it [her] way."

And yet, as she struggled to survive her bout with tuberculosis, she came to know God for herself. Reems felt that God allowed her to experience hardship so that her relationship with Him would grow and so that she would be prepared for her ultimate calling. In 1951, Reems began to travel to every major city in the country with her brother, Reverend Elmer Cleveland, Jr., in order to preach the Gospel. During this time she met Paul Reems, and they were married in 1958. Working together and starting with nothing, Ernestine and Paul built their life on the pillars of "commitment, consistency, and consecration."

Although she was unable to preach in the church of her childhood--women were not accepted as preachers but only as missionaries and teachers--Reems never lost sight of her priorities, her focus, and her desire to minister from her own pulpit. In 1968 she purchased an old shoe store in Oakland, CA, in a drug-infested neighborhood where people were frequently killed on the next corner. She then traveled across the country to evangelize and raise money to open a church on the property. With the funds she collected, Reems built a platform, purchased an organ and a piano, and laid some carpeting. From its initial congregation of four, membership in the Center of Hope Church exceeded 1,500 congregants by 2000. Fiercely committed to spreading the Word of Christ, Reems preaches with the charisma of one who is baptized in fire. According to a biography produced by her ministry, Reems's messages are "painfully clear and rich with poetic commentary, startling insights, and contemporary applications of the Bible's timeless message.

They usually expose the frailties of the heart of man and their need of a Savior." In response to her powerful words, the audience is driven to passionate praise, worship, and spontaneous dancing. Reems told CBB that her father was her mentor and her hero. Her father simply loved people, and this trait, she told CBB, embodies her inheritance from him. The hallmark of her ministry, then, is her particular calling to people in need. Non-judgmental in approach, she actively seeks those whom society has cast aside and helps them to re-assimilate. By sharing her compassion and her passion with drug addicts, prostitutes, prisoners, and the homeless, she offers, according a biography produced by her ministry, "both the hope of the Gospel message and the practical demonstration of it." In 1973, she received national attention for her work when the United States Army requested that Pastor Reems minister to the soldiers stationed in West Germany and honored with the rank of Five-Star General.

Founded Women's Ministry

While Reems is quick to note that she is not racist, she believes that women of color deserve and need a special forum of their own. As she explained to CBB, "I think I can address being poor better than someone else, being oppressed better than someone else, experiencing racism every day of my life." Reems also said, "We [African American women] can do beautiful things in our community because we know our culture, our people." Towards this end, in 1988, Reems founded the E.C. Reems Women's International Ministries (ECRWIM), headquartered in Oakland, CA. The goal of this ministry is to motivate, instruct, and challenge women to reach their maximum potential in Christ so as to enable them to meet the demands of the 21st century. According to the ECRWIM-Queens's/NY Chapter web site, "Its members are dedicated to promoting unity among women, community service, leadership development, and career enhancement through a series of regional conferences, publications, and audio-visual aids."

Ultimately, according to the web site, the ministry envisions itself not only as a resource for information and education, but "as a conduit for the development of positive role models in the rebuilding of intra/interpersonal relationships." Acting, then, as an advocate, the organization energizes women to become active in their communities and local churches. While global in her commitment to preach the Word of Christ, Reems' primary commitments remain within her own community.

In 1990, for instance, she opened a 56-unit senior housing complex, the E.E. Cleveland Manor. She also purchased a 17-unit facility to operate a transitional housing program for homeless single women with children. As she told Hunger News & Hope, a prostitute had posted herself in front of Reems' church, waiting for a customer and Reems quickly informed her, "Honey, you can't do that here--this is a church." The woman replied that she was hungry and needed to buy food. Reems told Hunger News & Hope that she felt the event was a message from God: "Open a transitional home for women in crisis." Combining federal and city funds with private donations, Reems purchased and remodeled a dilapidated motel and, in 1992, opened the home, which also offers programs in such areas as job-training and child-care. In 1998, she established the E.C. Reems Gardens, a 150-unit affordable housing complex. All told, by 2000, Reems managed more than $18 million for various social programs and had wholly transformed the neighborhood near her church.

Started a Charter School

Reems's reach into her community does not stop with her housing projects. Rather, in September of 1999, she inaugurated the Ernestine C. Reems Academy of Technology and Art Charter School in Oakland. According to the Academy's web site, the school promotes "a child-centered, community-learning environment dedicated to developing academic excellence in core subjects, leadership, and technological skills." The Academy also promotes appreciation for the arts, as well as community service. In particular, the academy, according to its web site, focuses on "raising academic achievement of all students, developing business and community partnerships, increasing parent and community involvement in school activities...and providing opportunities for students to serve through community activities."

The population of both staff and students at the school is diverse, reflecting the diverse population of Oakland itself, and the student body already exceeds 350. As Reems postulated during her interview with CBB, "public schools will fade out during the 21st century and charter and private schools will rise to the fore unless public schools make drastic changes." By actively engaging parents in the education of their children, Reems believes that her school will be successful, so successful, in fact, that she is already searching for more space to build a high school. Ministered to Young Women While certainly fulfilled by preaching from the pulpit, Reems makes it abundantly clear that the joy of her life is in ministering to the youth, and particularly to young women.

Reems realizes that this population is afflicted with problems stemming from low self-esteem. The younger girls in particular, Reems told CBB, have such low self-esteem that they do not like themselves. They do not like he way they look or the mistakes that they have made in their lives. Reems understands that, as she said in her interview with CBB, "senior women" must reach out to the younger generations, "take off their facade, and be real with them," because they share the same experiences. Reems told CBB that, in October of 2000, she brought 21 young women ages 21-31 to her home for brunch. She sat on the floor with them, answered their questions about sex, parenting, abortion, spirituality, and finances, and prayed with them.

These women were all struggling with some of life's most difficult issues: children out of wedlock, abortion, boyfriends who used drugs or were imprisoned. Through prayer and inspiration, through the retelling of her own miseries and pain as well as her triumphs, Reems told CBB, "God used me to minister to them to help their self-esteem, self-awareness, spirituality, and how to be a mother to their children. You make mistakes in life but you have to understand who you are and pick yourself up." Reems's spirit is contagious, and she has devoted her life to blessing any who will listen to her message. "I don't need affirmative action," she told CBB. "I affirm myself everyday." It is this message--a message reminding her listeners of what they have and can accomplish, of what they have contributed--that continues to draw people to her.

Awards

Selected Awards: Outstanding Service in Religion Award, Alameda-Contra Costa Innovators, 1984; Top 100 Black Business and Professional Women in America, Dollar and Sense Magazine, 1985; Outstanding Community Service Award, Hayward South Alameda County NAACP, 1986; Woman of the Year Award, State of California Legislature, 1987; Conferred, Doctor of Divinity, 1988, Trinity Hall Seminary, Springfield, IL; Christian Image Lifetime Achievement Award, Los Angeles, CA, 1990; Humanitarian Award for Outstanding Leadership and Untiring Service to Mankind, 1990; Excellence in Urban Ministry, Allen Temple Baptist Church, Oakland, CA, 1993; Outstanding Community Service, City of Oakland, 1996; One of the Top Women Preachers in the United States, Ebony Magazine, 1997; Woman of the Year, Urban League, 2000; Rosa Parks Award, Outstanding Leadership and Service, Junior Flair Heritage Foundation, 2000; Conferred Bishop, Monument International Church Assemblies, 2000. Works Selected Writings Counting Everything as Joy! Through the Storm. Further Reading Periodicals Ebony, November 1997. Hunger News & Hope, spring 2000.Other Additional information was obtained from a personal interview with CBB, from the personal papers of Bishop Reems, and on-line at the Center of Hope Community Church web site, http://www2.cohcc.org/cohcc, the Ernestine C. Reems Academy of Technology and Arts web site, http://www.schoolfutures.org/schreems.html, and the E.C. Reems International Women's Ministries-Queen's/NY Chapter web site, http://www.angelfire.com/ny3/ecrwim/. — Lisa S. WeitzmanRead more: http://www.answers.com/topic/ernestine-cleveland-reems#ixzz1Hrwk69He

Parable of Gang Violence and Political Power

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Navigating the Perilous Mental Landscape

Navigating the Perilous Mental Landscape

Like the earthquake in Japan, man too is in mental motion, a mind quake of the most devastating degree that is rocking his mental equilibrium to the core! For better or worse, he is connected to events in Nature as he is part of Nature, inseparable. He is water, air, earth and fire. As the earth moves, he moves, except those who think they are superior to Nature. But they shall be confounded on the Days of Wrath that are upon us as we write.

We must be aware of the times and what must be done. A blind man named Ray Charles told us "the world is in an uproar, the danger zone is everywhere...." And so it is, ancestor Ray, there is turbulence in the land and in man, woman and children. As the earth enters another 25,000 year cycle of history with the coming New Age of high spiritual consciousness, there are many who remain deaf, dumb and blind to present and future events, even though the news is full of rapidly changing events in the global village. One would need to be in worse shape than Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder not to see the earth is in transformation, even Nature itself. The ice is melting, the sea rising, the forests burning, earthquakes and tsunamis , drought, famine, pestilence, in diverse places, just as Jesus predicted.

Apparently, many do not believe what Jesus said even when they see events he predicted before their very eyes, on the news, Twitter, Facebook, Cable TV and elsewhere. He said mother would be against child and child against mother and father. Did he not say brother would be against brother and sister against sister? And do we not see this in our social relations today.

It is crystal clear to me we are in times in which a friend is no longer a friend, a wife and husband no longer wife and husband. There is no love between them. Husbands and wives say the horrible things to each other. Daughters and sons say the most wretched things to their parents, often when the parents are helping them.

But when the danger zone is everywhere, no one, no relationships are exempt from the turmoil sweeping the old order out and ushering in the New Era. But there is an almost organic relationship between the earth quaking and the minds of men, women and children becoming totally unbalanced. In this time of radical change of Nature and man, those with no understanding shall become unglued, losing their fragile mental equilibrium or simply tripping out. Ultimately, they become a danger to themselves and others and must be committed, for they are not the person we knew only yesterday. Today they are a total stranger who does not know us, cannot even recognize us, yet we have known them since childhood. They could be a sibling yet they do not act like there is any blood relationship between us. We behave like total strangers.

It could be parent/child relationships that come to such a low point children will sue parents or visa versa. In short the love is gone. Amiri Baraka tells us in his play A Black Mass, "Where the souls print should be there is only a cellulose pouch of disgusting habits...."

As we walk the streets be very careful what you say to people, for they are on edge, on the precipice, ready to strike out at the slightest perceived negative incident, or wrong word uttered.
Yes, they are ready to kill, so be aware as you make your daily round.

The political/economic atmosphere is charged with venom, but it is misplaced aggression, for no one is going after the bankers, the loan sharks, the Wall Street financiers who were casino gamblers with the wealth of the people, stealing 13 trillion dollars in the sub prime housing scam.
And yet hardly a banker is in jail, meanwhile 2.4 million mostly poor are incarcerated for petty crimes, additionally they suffer drug abuse and mental illness, not to mention lack of proper legal representation at the time of their trials. The only white man doing time is the one who stole from the rich, not the poor. Those who robbed the poor are yet receiving multimillion dollar bonuses while 30 million workers are unemployed and millions are now homeless.

It is this atmosphere that is so unsettling to the mental state of those who were already suffering stress from the general hostile environment, from bad food, the media dispensing
information from the world of make believe and promoting the addiction to white supremacy conspicuous consumption

How do we move from problem to solution, from addiction to recovery, from sickness to healing?
The Buddhists says knowledge plus the right action. We must first understand the time and what must be done. These are perilous times, very dangerous, thus one must tip through the tulips, through the mind fields that lay before us, behind us, to the right and to the left.

We must practice eternal vigilance and stay on guard against being deceived. There are those who wish to deceive us so that we remain victims of the slave system. They will not tell us all the institutions are exhausted, political, economic, educational, religious, marital. None of these shall continue with business as usual. They must and shall undergo radical structural change, if not simply thrown into the dustbin of history where they belonged long ago.

Those not prepared for radical change shall be blown by the wayside where they shall inhabit the lower realms of an animal existence until they die or recover from savagery and come into the era of civility and spirituality beyond religiosity.

Those who are a danger to themselves and others will need to be confined to a program of long term recovery, a rehabilitation of their disgusting habits, namely greed, ego, pride, lust, arrogance, and other deadly sins, and most importantly the inability to practice freedom, justice and equality, constitutionally unable to share the wealth and practice democracy or the consent of the governed.

The end is the beginning and the beginning is the end, or rather what goes around comes around. What we are witnessing and experiencing is not linear time but circular, for we shall continue, but only those who are able to jump out of the box of the old structures into the new.

The fearless ones, they shall be successful. Those not motivated by the illusions of the monkey mind shall be successful. We pray for the others who persist in their inordinancy, blindly wandering on, as the Qur'an says.
--Marvin X, Prime Minister of Poetry,
First Poet's Church
4/7/11

The Green Revolution

By Marvin X, Prime Minister of Poetry

The Green Revolution is not what you think, rather it is Nature in revolt against man, and man can do little when Nature is against him. He can try but the only solution is to correct himself otherwise Nature is going to consume him, yes, eat him alive, flooding the land by raising the sea level, drying up the water that will soon be more valuable than oil, polluting the food with bacteria making it inedible.

We see man trying to make changes in nature but not in himself, for he has no intention to give freedom and justice to the poor, but has come with an entirely new method of domination and exploitation called globalism that cares nothing about the welfare of nations, only profit. If people suffer, too bad, we must let free market forces play out, except when the exploitation is so blatant he will make minor adjustments as with the sub prime mortgage crisis. The government says it will help a few but most of the people, especially the poor who were the worse victims shall be homeless—once again, they have been robbed of their American dream.

But Nature shall not stop her fury until the white supremacy rulers and their running dogs have been removed from power, no matter what it takes—they have no weapons against nature, the sun, the moon and stars, the oceans, rivers and mountains, even the tress, animals and fish are against the Globalists and their lackeys.

The focus of the Green revolution should not be on Nature but on those who have polluted the earth with the blood and bones of the righteous people. They must be apprehended and brought to justice. Their greed and desire for cheap labor and cheap resources will bring about their doom and no amount of correcting the forces of Nature will suffice because Nature has done nothing but showered her blessings upon man, so why should we think nature needs to be cleaned up—no, it is man that must be cleaned or eliminated from the planet.

Mother Nature is angry and no amount of pacification will work because you are the problem, not Mother Nature. Again, you have no intention to clean up yourself, but to persist in your wickedness, spreading it throughout the earth. You have now turned the poor children of Iraq into prostitutes by killing their mothers and fathers, just as you have done in the ghettoes of America, wherein babies eleven, twelve and thirteen are whoring because many of them are abused, abandoned and homeless.

In Iraq, the young girls are discarding the Muslim dress for jeans with sparkles so they can get money for food, just as the ghetto girls are doing, whoring to pay their cell phone bill and by hair weave.

No, Mother Nature does not need correction; she knows how to heal herself without your assistance, for she has been around for billions of years while you have just arrived from the caves of Europe.

You need to forget about Mother Nature because she is coming after you and all those who behave like you, all who want to be robbers, pimps, thugs, gangstas and killers. See if you can fight Mother Nature when her earthquakes hit, hurricanes, and the tsunamis are on the way.

You must bow down and submit to Mother Nature, asking her forgiveness for destroying her people, robbing them and keeping them deaf, dumb, and blind. Otherwise, you and your cosmetic attempt to appease her will be to no avail. In the end, you shall be wiped from the face of the earth. Mother Nature has revealed this truth to me. I speak in the name of the fish, cows, birds, bees, ants, rivers, creeks, oceans, hills, mountains, the sun, moon and stars. I speak in the name of the corn, the wheat, the rice and all the crops Mother Nature has provided man for his pleasure.

I speak in the name of the poor who have been robbed of their labor and natural resources so devils can live in heaven while the poor suffer in hell. No, you need not bother with cleaning up anything but yourself, for it is highly doubtful you have the heart to do that, let alone tackle Mother Nature. Mother is well able to heal herself. Let’s see if you can heal your wickedness and injustice to her people.

Dr. Yacoub's America

Dr. Yacoub's America


In the populist black studies of Elijah Muhammad, we are taught a big-head scientist genetically engineered the white man by separating the dominant and recessive genes from the aboriginal Asiatic black man. Yacoub's bio tech lab was not much different from the bio-tech labs operating in Berkeley and Emeryville, a few blocks from my house. We have no doubt they have cloned a man in these labs, but are simply delaying the announcement.

According to Elijah's Myth of Yacoub, the young scientist found the magnetic attraction between two pieces of steel. We maintain America is the land of Yacoub's children who love playing with steel. America spends a trillion dollars making weapons of steel, making her the number one arms merchant of the world. Children in the hood are addicted to steel as well, whether guns to mainly kill each other or cars they turn into weapons of destruction, using cars in "side shows" where people are needlessly injured or killed. The children will stand in the street or walk directly into a two thousand pound piece of steel and plastic, fearing nothing. If you stop before hitting them, they will curse you and/or pull out a piece of steel to shoot you. They use steel to resolve all disputes, sometimes before a discussion or conflict resolution.

Yocoub utilized three workers on his bio-tech project: the doctor, nurse and undertaker. These workers conspired to create the man of steel or devil. They practiced a form of selective breeding, allowing the black to mate with a brown and a brown with a lighter person until the white devil was created after hundreds of years, 600 to be exact. Two blacks were not allowed to mate in this experiment. Even today, there are some blacks who demand their children not marry another black skinned person, only someone lighter. This is no doubt residue from the Yacoubian psychopathology. If two blacks produced a baby, the doctor, nurse and undertaker would conspire to murder the baby to keep the experiment on track.

In modern America, we must note the three workers, doctor, nurse and undertaker, are aided and abetted by workers from the petrochemical and pharmaceutical industry, who are determined to fulfill their wish, "let us make a man." The petrochemical workers produce the food in oil, not earth. As much as possible the crops are genetically engineered. If not, they are created by a healthy dose of insecticides, pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers and dyes.

Naturally, the oil based rather than soil based food leads Yacoub's children directly from the fruit of petrochemical workers into the hands of pharmaceutical workers in league with the doctor, nurse and undertaker. The prescription drug dealers connect with insurance companies to guide the patient into the hands of the doctor, nurse and undertaker.

When poor Michael Jackson was found dead at the hands of his doctor, we knew the Myth of Yacoub was alive and well. Michael was so addicted to the Myth of Yacoub that he exceeded the limit of propriety in attempting to alter his blackness in favor of the Yacoubian ideal of whiteness. But note his doctor administered the hemlock that took him into oblivion.

There is almost no way to avoid the scheme or conspiracy of the Yacoubian team of workers, the petrochemical, pharmaceutical, medical and funeral agents.

When a man entered prison, the inmates warned him, "Don't get sick. Whatever you do, don't get sick up in here. There's a prison graveyard full of nigguhs who got sick." And so it is the same in America, don't get sick. Yacoub's team of workers are eagerly awaiting you, sharpening their knives until you get to the doctor and nurse, and finally the undertaker.

The only solution is to avoid stress, for dis-ease is brought about from stress, thus the food (petrochemical) is useless and dangerous; the medicine (pharmaceutical) is useless and dangerous as it is not designed to heal only prolong the illness unto death. Part of the last rites administered to the victim of Yacoub is that ride in a steel hearse.
--Marvin X, Prime Minister of Poetry,
First Poet's Church
11/21/10

Why Do So-called Progressives Support Dictators?

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Why Do So-called Progressives Support Dictators?

It is amazing to know the long time support many progressives have given to rotten, slimy dictators around the world. Of course there is often a time lag in catching up with the one time revolutionaries who eventually discard their revolutionary garb to don the persona of the brutal dictator, president for life.

The former revolutionary did indeed liberate his people but then somehow decided he is the new messiah of his "children" who must be ruled with an iron hand, even after he has thrown in the towel of the consent of the governed.

There is no need to call names for you know who these pitiful former revolutionaries are, who came into political power decades ago but only of late decide to institute the fundamental item on their revolutionary agenda: land reform. There are a plethora of personalities on the African Continent who fit this description, in Asia, Middle East, Europe and the Americas.

We support all truly radical regimes but condemn reactionary governments and the leadership that hides under the revolutionary banner.

We are amazed to see how these reactionary, corrupt, dictatorial bastards stick together, yes, like birds of a feather. African proverb says one white dog will not bite another white dog.

But what is more amazing is how many socalled American radicals and progressives will chime in with the rats of the world, and yet we know many of them have ulterior motives, yes, many pledge allegiance to the rats because they are paid to do so.

There are those radicals who take money to promote the propaganda machine of rotten dog, oppressive leaders around the world. No matter how brutal they are, no matter how full their dungeons are with opposition leaders, poets, playwrights, journalists, these sycophants continue kissing ass for a few bucks. Even when opposition leaders are murdered in broad daylight, the sycophant media magicians continue perpetuating the world of make believe.

From time to time the opposition forces in various countries must speak directly to American so-called progressives to stay out of their business. Work on your own revolution in the belly of the Beast, since it is clear you have no understanding nor desire to understand our condition.

We talk about ideological clarity that is beyond revolutionary romanticism and idealism, but when reality stares us in the face we run and hide behind rose colored glasses. At the present hour the president we championed, although there were wise brothers and sisters who warned us not to do so, has turned into an imperialist of the worse kind, and yet there are those who refuse to criticize the brother because he is a brother. What difference does it make if the hangman is black or white?

The universe is calling upon us to get in harmony or get off the planet. All fakism, As-Salaam Afakum, pseudo revolutionary personalities that cover their darkness with word magic and the assistance of sycophants, must be rejected. And those who support them must be exposed and rejected as well for selling out truth for a mess of pottage.
--Marvin X, Prime Minister of Poetry,
First Poet's Church
www.firstpoetschurch.blogspot.com

Crusader Hypocrisy

Crusader Hypocrisy in North Africa and the Middle East

The Crusaders have entered the freedom quagmire in North Africa and the Middle East. Oh, what a conundrum the Crusaders shall find themselves attempting to unravel. They have been caught off balance by the speed of events that their political and military strategists never imagined.

A single spark began in Tunisia and has now ignited a prairie fire from North Africa to the Persian Gulf. The American and European Crusaders run here and there in a useless effort to stop the tide of freedom raging in the lands, cherry picking a nation to support, when we know all of those neo-colonial regimes that Euro-American Crusaders have propped up for decades must and will fall into the dustbin of history, it is only a matter of time and time is running out with each passing day, each hour.

Why would the Crusades attack Libya but not Yemen, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia? Why Libya, or perhaps this is only a test case, a trial balloon to figure a strategy for the climax sure to come soon in Saudi Arabia when its people cry Allahu Akbar and defy the guns, tanks, planes, bullets and tear gas supplied by the Crusaders to prop up decadent rulers who have been complicit with the Crusaders to allow oil to flow to the West in a sick siphoning of a people's resources to benefit the few. Hence the present crisis.

And yet the sick irony is that the Crusaders care nothing about the cry for liberation, only how to continue their addiction to white supremacy with oil as the necessary byproduct, for white supremacy cannot survive without the petrochemical drug so vital to a military and in food production that is essentially oil based, full of herbicides, insecticides, fertilizers to the degree the food is grown in oil not earth, leading the people directly from the petrochemists to the pharmacists and doctors (the Yacubian workers) , in a slow dance of death for all, including the ten percent who rule the deaf, dumb and blind eighty-five per cent.

The people's cry for freedom and justice echos the Eloquent Peasant of 4,000 years ago in Egypt. But these present day pharaohs are not like the pharaoh who was bewildered and bemused by the eloquence of that ancient peasant, these modern pharaohs are hard headed and hard hearted. A ruler should know his time is up at the moment his people unite and rise up against him, yet, with the backing of the Crusaders, these modern pharaohs will dance until the midnight hour, until every grain of sand has slipped to the bottom of the hour glass.

The Crusaders shall not be able to save them because they shall be too busy fighting fires on their turf, as their people also rise up in the name of Ma'at, freedom, justice, balance, reciprocity, truth.

It is indeed a lesson that the first African president of the Crusader America has now attacked his fatherland. Now we see the matter is far beyond color. Imperialism has no color, nor does neo-colonialism. We know it is far beyond religion as well, for are not the Muslim nations in bed with the Crusader? He has been the supplier of weapons for their leaders to oppress and suppress the people now rising up throughout the lands of the Middle East and North Africa.

Why haven't the Crusaders entered Yemen on the side of the people? Why did not the Fifth Fleet of the Crusader support the suffering people of Bahrain? What is this selective suffering that chose Qadafy as the villain when so many other villains run amok, committing mass murder of their people, not to mention the genocide in Gaza and the West Bank?

Why do we think the Palestinians shall not again rise up in unity for their long deprived nationhood? Yet, the Crusaders shall block them at every turn until it is too late, for the Apocalypse shall await them at the precipice. The modern pharaohs are in bed with the Zionists and the Crusaders, they all dance together in the den of iniquity that shall be ephemeral.
--Marvin X,
Prime Minister of Poetry,
First Poet's Church
3/23/11

Tale of the Eloquent Peasant

The Eloquent Peasant

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The Eloquent Peasant is an Ancient Egyptian story about a peasant, Khun-Anup, who stumbles upon the property of the noble Rensi son of Meru, guarded by its harsh overseer, Nemtynakht.^[1][2] It is set in the Ninth/Tenth dynasty around Herakleopolis.^[3]

Story Summary

The story begins with a peasant, Khun-anup, and his donkey stumbling on to the lands of the noble Rensi son of Meru.^[4] Nemtynakht, the overseer of a noble's lands, was renowned for his misdeeds and tricked Khun-anup into causing damage to his master Meritensa's property by spreading a sheet across the road beside the farm, forcing Khun-anup and his donkey to trample over the crops. The donkey then began to eat the grain, whereupon Nemtynakht took custody of the donkey and started to beat Khun-anup, knowing that Rensi would believe the word of his overseer rather than any allegations of trickery and theft from Khun-anup.

Khun-anup searched for Rensi and found him near the riverside of the city. He addressed him with praises. Rensi and his judges heard his case and replied that witnesses to Nemtynakht's so called crime were needed for the case to continue. Khun-anup could find none, but the magnificent speech of the eloquent peasant convinced Rensi to continue to consider his case. Rensi brought the case before Pharaoh and told him of Khun-anup's rhetorical powers. The king was impressed, but ordered the peasant not be given justice just yet and his petitions to be put in writing.

For nine days Khun-anup complimented the high steward Rensi and begged for justice. After sensing that he was being ignored, Khun-anup insulted him and was punished with a beating. After one last speech, the discouraged peasant left, but Rensi sent for him and ordered him to return. But rather than being punished for his insolence, the peasant was given justice. Amenemhat, after reading Khun-anup's last speech, was impressed and ordered the donkey to be returned to Khun-anup and the peasant to be compensated with all the property of Nemtynakht, including his job, making Nemtynakht as poor as Khun-anup had been.

References

1. ^ Parkinson, Richard (1991). The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant. Griffith Institute. ISBN 0900416602.
2. ^ "The Eloquent Peasant (5)". AEL Email List. http://www.rostau.org.uk/ep/EPAlign/Peasant/guest5.html#start. Retrieved 2007-12-17.
3. ^ Parkinson, R B (1999), The Tale of Sinuhe and other ancient Egyptian poems, 1940-1640 BC, New York, ISBN 9780192839664, http://www.worldcat.org/title/tale-of-sinuhe-and-other-ancient-egyptian-poems-1940-1640-bc/oclc/317507143
4. ^ Lichtheim, M (1973). Ancient Egyptian Literature. Vol.1. p. 169–184.

External links

• [1] – in hieroglyphs (includes literal translations by various contributors)
• [2] – older translation
• [3] – older translation

This article is about an item held in the British Museum. Object reference: EA 10274.

The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant

The pharaoh in this story is sometimes thought to have been Akhtoy II Nebkaure, the fourth king of the ninth dynasty ruling at Heracleopolis.
[Barton Introduction] A remarkable appreciation of the rights of the common people is revealed in this story, which has come down to us in copies made before 1800 B.C. The principle part of the story is given below.

There was a man, Hunanup by name, a peasant of Sechet-hemat, and he had a wife, ////// by name. Then said this peasant to his wife: "Behold, I am going down to Egypt to bring back bread for my children. Go in and measure the grain that we still have in our storehouse, ////////// bushel." Then he measured for her eight bushels of grain. Then this peasant said to his wife: "Behold, two bushels of grain shall be left for bread for you and the children. But make for me the six bushels into bread and beer for each of the days that I shall be on the road." Then this peasant went down to Egypt after he had loaded his asses with all the good produce of Sechet-hemat.
This peasant set out and journeyed southward to Ehnas (Herakleopolis). He came to a point opposite Per-fefi, north of Medenit, and found there a man standing on the bank, Dehuti-necht by name, who was the son of a man named Iseri, who was one of the serfs of the chief steward, Meruitensi.
Then said this Dehuti-necht, when he saw the asses of this peasant which appealed to his covetousness: "Oh that some good god would help me to rob this peasant of his goods!"
The house of Dehuti-necht stood close to the side of the path, which was narrow, not wide. It was about the width of a /////-cloth, and upon one side of it was the water and upon the other side was growing grain. Then said Dehuti-necht to his servant: "Hasten and bring me a shawl from the house!" And it was brought at once. Then he spread this shawl upon the middle of the road, and it extended, one edge to the water, and the other to the grain.
The peasant came along the path which was the common highway. Then said Dehuti-necht: "Look out, peasant, do not trample on my clothes!" The peasant answered: "I will do as you wish; I will go in the right way!" As he was turning to the upper side, Dehuti-necht said: "Does my grain serve you as a road?" Then said the peasant: "I am going in the right way. The bank is steep and the path lies near the grain and you have stopped up the road ahead with your clothes. Will you, then, not let me go by?" Upon that one of the asses took a mouthful of grain. Then said Dehuti-necht: "See, I Will take away your ass because it has eaten my grain."
Then the peasant said: "I am going in the right way. As one side was made impassable I have led my ass along the other, and will you seize it because it has taken a mouthful of grain? But I know the lord of this property; it belongs to the chief steward, Meruitensi. It is he who punishes every robber in this whole land. Shall I, then, be robbed in his domain?"
Then said Dehuti-necht: "Is it not a proverb which the people employ: 'The name of the poor is only known on account of his lord?' It is I who speak to you, but the chief steward of whom you think." Then he took a rod from a green tamarisk and beat all his limbs with it, and seized his asses and drove them into his compound.
Thereupon the peasant wept loudly on account of the pain of what had been done to him. Dehuti-necht said to him: "Don't cry so loud, peasant, or you shall go to the city of the dead." The peasant said: "You beat me and steal my goods, and will you also take the wail away from my mouth? O Silence-maker! Give me my goods again! May I never cease to cry out, if you fear!"
The peasant consumed four days, during which he besought Dehuti-necht, but he did not grant him his rights. Then this peasant went to the south, to Ehnas to implore the chief steward, Meruitensi. He met him as he was coming out of the canal-door of his compound to embark in his boat. Thereupon the peasant said: "Oh let me lay before you this affair. Permit one of your trusted servants to come to me, that I may send him to you concerning it."
Then the steward Meruitensi, sent one of his servants to him, and he sent back by him an account of the whole affair. Then the chief steward, Meruitensi, laid the case of Dehuti-necht before his attendant officials, and they said to him: "Lord, it is presumably a case of one of your peasants who has gone against another peasant near him. Behold, it is customary with peasants to so conduct themselves toward others who are near them. Shall we beat Dehuti-necht for a little natron and a little salt? Command him to restore it and he will restore it."
The chief steward, Meruitensi, remained silent - he answered neither the officials nor the peasant. The peasant then came to entreat the chief steward Meruitensi, for the first time, and said: "Chief steward, my lord, you are greatest of the great, you are guide of all that which is not and which is. When you embark on the sea of truth, that you may go sailing upon it, then shall not the /////////// strip away your sail, then your ship shall not remain fast, then shall no misfortune happen to your mast then shall your spars not be broken, then shall you not be stranded - if you run fast aground, the waves shall not break upon you, then you shall not taste the impurities of the river, then you shall not behold the face of fear, the shy fish shall come to you, and you shall capture the fat birds. For you are the father of the orphan, the husband of the widow, the brother of the desolate, the garment of the motherless. Let me place your name in this land higher than all good laws: you guide without avarice, you great one free from meanness, who destroys deceit, who creates truthfulness. Throw the evil to the ground. I will speak hear me. Do justice, O you praised one, whom the praised ones praise. Remove my oppression: behold, I have a heavy weight to carry; behold, I am troubled of soul; examine me, I am in sorrow."

[Barton: Meruitensi is so pleased with the eloquence of the peasant that he passed him on to another officer and he to still another until he came before the king. Altogether the peasant made nine addresses. His eighth address follows.]

This peasant came to implore him for the eighth time, and said: "Chief steward, my lord, man falls on account of ///////////. Greed is absent from a good merchant. His good commerce is /////////. Your heart is greedy, it does not become you. You despoil: this is not praiseworthy for you ////////. Your daily rations are in your house; your body is well filled. The officers, who are set as a protection against injustice,---a curse to the shameless are these officers, who are set as a bulwark against lies. Fear of you has not deterred me from supplicating you; if you think so, you have not known my heart. The Silent one, who turns to report to you his difficulties, is not afraid to present them to you. Your real estate is in the country, your bread is on your estate, your food is in the storehouse. Your officials give to you and you take it. Are you, then, not a robber? They plow for you //////// for you to the plots of arable land. Do the truth for the sake of the Lord of Truth.You reed of a scribe, you roll of a book, you palette, you god Thoth, you ought to keep yourself far removed from injustice. You virtuous one, you should be virtuous, you virtuous one, you should be really virtuous. Further, truth is true to eternity. She goes with those who perform her to the region of the dead. He will be laid in the coffin and committed to the earth; - his name will not perish from the earth, but men will remember him on account of his property: so runs the right interpretation of the divine word.
"Does it then happen that the scales stand aslant? Or is it thinkable that the scales incline to one side? Behold, if I come not, if another comes, then you host opportunity to speak as one who answers, as one who addresses the silent, as one who responds to him who has not spoken to you. You have not been ///////; You have not been sick. You have not fled, you have not departed. But you have not yet granted me any reply to this beautiful word which comes from the mouth of the sun-god himself: "Speak the truth; do the truth: for it is great, it is mighty, it is everlasting. It will obtain for you merit, and will lead you to veneration.' For does the scale stand aslant? It is their scale-pans that bear the objects, and in just scales there is no /////// wanting."

[Barton: After a ninth speech on the part of the peasant, the tale concludes as follows.]

Then the chief steward, Meruitensi, sent two servants to bring him back. Thereupon the peasant feared that he would suffer thirst, as a punishment imposed upon him for what he had said. Then the peasant said /////////.
Then said the chief steward, Meruitensi: "Fear not, peasant! See, you shall remain with me."
Then said the peasant: "I live because I eat of your bread and drink your beer forever."
Then said the chief steward, Meruitensi: "Come out here /////////."
Then he caused them to bring, written on a new roll, all the addresses of these days. The chief steward sent them to his majesty, the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Neb-kau-re, the blessed, and they were more agreeable to the heart of his majesty than all that was in his land. His majesty said, "Pass sentence yourself, my beloved son!"
Then the chief steward, Meruitensi, caused two servants to go and bring a list of the household of Dehuti-necht from the government office, and his possessions were six persons, with a selection from his /////////, from his barley, from his spelt, from his asses, from his swine, from his /////////.

[Barton: From this point on only a few words of the tale can be made out, but it appears from these that the goods selected from the estate of Dehuti-necht were given to the peasant and he was sent home rejoicing.]

Something new 4,000 years ago Only three fictional works from ancient Egypt remain in nearly full condition and they are all very different. "The Shipwrecked Sailor" is an adventure and fable. "The Tale of Sinuhe" is an early patriotic epic. "The Eloquent Peasant", from about the same time as "Sinuhe", is something else again. It's like a cross between a folk tale and the bulk of Egyptian non-fictional writing which is more meditative. The narrative framework has to do with a peasant who is unjustly cheated out of his possessions by the serf of chief steward. The peasant takes his complaint to the steward, presenting his case quite eloquently. The steward who hears him reports to the king who is intrigued. The king asks the steward to ignore the peasant, requiring him to keep returning and making more of these wonderful pleas. The pleasant returns eight more times, each time imploring the rulers to adhere to Ma'at, an Egyptian concept variously translated as righteousness, order, justice or truth—not just in legalistic terms but as features of the universe. Each time he attacks the matter in a different way, delving deeper into the implications of this abstract concept. These parts of the story are usually translated into poetry. You may take them as precursors to the Greek dialogues, or to the moral sermons of the Bible: one passage, for instance, is rendered "Do for one who may do for you, that you may cause him thus to do", nearly two millennia before Christ is reported to have delivered the Golden Rule. In the end, the peasant gets justice and we see Ma'at restored from the top to the bottom of society. The story seems to work on several levels. It piques the interest of the common folks, showing someone at the lower-level of society who is able to use his golden tongue to outwit those who oppress him, while also demonstrating the wisdom of the king who recognizes the truth when he hears it. At the same time, we're quite aware that it's unlikely an ignorant peasant would have such a grasp of religious and philosophical principles, or of the language of such discourse. The monologues are really pitched to the educated classes, directing them to strive for the wise rule that would maintain the stability of their society and balance in the universe. Something like that. I don't know enough about Egyptian society to understand the context completely. But I have been surprised to find the ruminations of the peasant interesting. The first reaction may be of disappointment—hey, where'd the story go? this is just speeches now—but once to accept this, you may see how profound this material must have been for the ancient Egyptians and for those who came after. Two collections of ancient Egyptian works that include "The Eloquent Peasant" are The Tale of Sinuhe and Other Egyptian Poems, translated by R.B. Parkinson, and The Literature of Ancient Egypt, edited by William Kelly Simpson but with this story translated by Vincent A. Tobin. Parkinson's translation is the seminal translation that scholars seem to depend upon. Tobin's builds upon Parkinson's and is the easiest to read and understand in my experience. There are also several versions available for reading online but I find them too crude to get across the meaning of the peasant's monologues in any way that would impress a modern reader. Some of them also compress the story, leaving out most of the poetic speeches which are the heart of "The Eloquent Peasant". — Eric

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