Saul Williams - Bloodletting

Bloodletting
by Saul Williams
the greatest americans
have not been born yet

they are waiting patiently
for the past to die
please give blood

those crumbled tablets
were to share a story
with a burning Bush

where is that voice from nowhere to remind us
that the holy ground we walk on, purified by native blood has rooted trees
whose fallen leaves now colour code a sacred list of demands?

who among us can give translation of autumn's hues to morning news?

the anchor man
thrown overboard
has simply rooted us in history's repeating cycle

a nation in its saturn years that won't acknowledge karma

where is that voice from nowhere, the ones your prophets spoke of?

there are voices from fear
disconnected from their diaphragms
dangling from coffee covered teeth
that spill into our laps
and scorch our privates

there are voices from the sides of necks
some already noosed
dangling participles
pronouns running for sentence serving life in corner offices
and ghetto corners
their voices are the same:
dead to themselves numb to the possibility of truth
existing beyond that which can be palmed into your hand, period.

there are voices of elders
which seem to do no more
than damn us to our childish ways for in many households wisdom no longer
comes with age

so where is that voice from nowhere?
that burning bush?
that passing dove?

for i hear generals calling for ammunition presidents calling for arms and
women calling for help

where is that voice from nowhere?
that god of abraham?
can he be heard over the gunfire
the wizz of passing missiles
the crash of buildings
the cries of children
the crack of bones
the shriek of sirens

or is that his mighty voice?

your angry god craving the sacrifice of generation's sons degenerate
your holy books
written in red ink
on burning sands

your prayers between rounds do no more than fasten the fate of your children
to the hammered truth of your trigger
a truth that mushrooms
it's darkened cloud
over the rest of us
so that we too bear witness to the short lived fate
of a civilization that worships a male god

your weapons are phallic
all of them

that dummie that sits
on your lap is no longer
a worthwhile spectacle
his shrunken pale face
leaves little room for imagination
we have spotted your moving lips and have pinned the voice to it's proper source
it is a source of madness
a source of hunger for power
a source of weakness
a source of evil

we have exited your coliseum and are encircling your box office demanding
our families back
our cultures back
our rituals back
our gods back
so that we may return them to their proper source
the source of life
the source of creation
our mother's womb
the great goddess

we will cut through
the barbed wire hangers
and chastity belts
we will climb in and
incubate our spirits
through the winter
we will wait through
the degenerate course
of your repeated history
we will wait
for the past
to die

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Saul
• Williams
• spoken
• word
• religion

[chaserx13]

Is saul a relgious man? Either more i love his poetry.

[Balthazar121]

His father was a preacher.

[Balthazar121]

Comment on your video: Saul Williams - Bloodletting

Thanks for posting this! My favorite Saul poem. I was very disappointed that he didn't include it in his Sydney show last year

Sorry that I deleted your comment photondancer.... I wanted to reply.

This EP where this song is, is from 2003..... and I guess Saul Williams has newer materials so that every poem would not fit that are older.

[AbsoluteEnding]

Thanks for posting this, I'm surprised it does not have more views.

[Balthazar121]

well... same here... I guess many people in America don't want to hear anything questioning religion

[InnocentzRaptor]

Or maybe they haven't opened their eyes and ears to this great man yet. Thanks for the upload.

[Balthazar121]

that is another possibility, yes

[RiotersBlock]

It's more likely that Saul isn't too mainstream, a good thing in my opinion, and that his brand of blended hip hop and poetry doesn't appeal to everyone.

It's a matter of 'whatever gets you off.'

[Edgeofthedarkness]

.. and so I wait too.

[ryin2011]

Saul williams is a genius. This is one of the best poems I have ever heard.

[tubertime]

@chaserx13: It's apparent in the lyrics of this song that he is anti Christian. I'd say spiritual yes, religious? most likely not.

[gregg421]

He has a lot of disdain for the history of religion

[gingerbhoy]

One of his best poems. I rather his stuff when the words take center. I find the music in latest stuff to be distracting really.

[ZombieSlaver]

@SirYacob

I don't see a response to this, so I apologize if I'm repeating anything xD

Yes, it is. Some lines are changed/altered, but the whole of it is in ,said the shotgun to the head. Brilliant book. Buy it if you haven't already.

[chaserx13]

@Balthazar121 Ah, ty very much

[MorroWolf]

beautiful this man is beautiful