Nhojj Poetry's Blog

Hope every single day

Shines like new year’s day

Trust your heart & feel the power

Flow within your soul

For this new year…

Dance to the music… that you hear

Make resolutions

Life brings solutions

Daily give thanks for what you have

Know within your soul

You are blessed dear…

Dance to the music… that you hear

Our journey may be long, too long

Life may throw some curve balls at us

But we’ll dance, we’ll fight

We’ll step aside and…

Keep pressing on

Keep moving on

Keep striving on

We climb our hills, push past walls

Knowing that this vision is ours

Life is like school

Testing what we choose…

Choose better ways

Reach higher grades

See brighter days

Look around you, this year

The answers for you are so near

Just shift the mind and

Center the I

You’ll solve the puzzle

Win the prize

Give love a try

H-A-P-P-Y-N-E-W-Y-E-A-R

The Remixes by Nhojj

Have you ever paused to look into her eyes

Have you taken the time to find out why she cries

Would you stay for a while, while he tried to remove his disguise

And showed you the fear that he found buried deep inside

Everyone out there yes they too deserve respect

It’s not just ones with whom you can connect

Sometimes what appears to be different in truth is the same

Truth and love together should be the aim

Cause there’s pain and the air

And sweet smiles hide deep despair

And you could dry a tear if you cared

More love

We need more love…

Thanks for Listening

I’ve Been Waiting for You by Nhojj

My brother

I’m writing this

To tell you I love you

You showed me what true friendship means

This life is rough

But knowing you has made me better

You shared your strength…

Sitting here

Thinking of

Tough times I came through

You were there, helped me make it through

This life gets rough

But knowing you has made me stronger

You shared your faith…

And I want you to know

Brother

You help me to grow

I thank you

Where ever you go

Always be true

Always be you

Thanks for Listening

Soul Comfort by Nhojj

Hush little one

Don’t let the insanity

Disquiet you

Let it go

You have tormented self

For far too long

Why do you agonize

And crucify yourself

Transcend this dormancy

Search for tranquility

Sleep little one

Sleep little one

Sleep little one

Thanks for Listening

I've Been Waiting for You by Nhojj

There you are… loving

There you are… trusting

I do believe in this love we share

I have no fear now that you are here

In my life

Here I am… near you

I only live… for you

And baby I want this way I feel to never end

You’re my friend until the end

End of time

So here we are… together

I am yours… forever

And up until now I never knew what love could do

It brought me you

So here we are… caring sharing loving

And until now I never knew what love could do

Me & U

We’ll make it through anything

Thanks for Listening

I've Been Waiting for You by Nhojj

I’ll be performing my first concert in 2 years on Sunday, November 17, 3:30pm at St. Marks Church…

I still remember the first time I walked into this simple 200 year-old church. It was back in 2003, when traumatized by 911, the world was preparing for another war. Sean (my roommate and an artist in his own right), and I wanted to produce a free peace concert.

I set out to visit all the churches in our East Village neighborhood, beginning with the one closest to our apartment – St. Marks Church. At the time, I didn’t know it was the second oldest church in Manhattan. I didn’t know poet Kahlil Gibran was once a member of its Arts Committee, or that Martha Graham had danced during its services, or how it helped launch the career of Patti Smith. I hadn’t heard of its long history of social justice activism, or how early rectors incorporated Native American, Hindu, Buddhist, and Bahá’í ceremonies and guest speakers into services. All I knew is it was close to where I lived.

Since that first day, Jeannine Otis, the musical director, has opened the church doors to me, welcoming me into St. Marks family. Over the years I’ve performed at their Pride Disco Mass, Good Friday Blues, and I even filmed my “Amazing Grace” marriage equality music video there. So it feels good to be performing my first concert in 2 years there.

I started singing in church as a child in Guyana. That church wasn’t as open and affirming as St. Marks, but it instilled in me a reverence for the sacred. All music, like all life, is sacred.

So if you are in NYC and are free on Sunday, November 17 at 3:30pm, join me and my guitar. This is a free show. I’ll be performing music from all my 6 albums and reading excerpts from my latest “Cherish Yourself: Journal of a Caribbean Man Who Loves Men”.

Nhojj Unplugged

Sunday, November 17, 2019

3:30pm

Free

St. Marks Church

131 East 10th street

NYC 10003

Every step

Along your way

Will lead you closer to me

Every sound my mouth creates

Will lure you closer to me

In the dark

Where I wait for the dawn

I will say your cognomen

When you do perceive

I’ll be here

Calming your fears

Wade in the water

It’s really not deep

Gaze out on the ocean

If only for a peak and when you get to that side

Where you feel you have to hide

Think of cool waters…

The way you made me smile

Think of soft winds…

The way you felt inside

Thank You for Listening

I've Been Waiting for You by Nhojj

Change

Passage

From here to there

Daring that move

From this place to that one

From this course to the next one

From this mate to that

State of being

From this date on…

New venture

Birth

Business

Break-up

Accepting this new wage packet

Stepping out of that money racket

Sliding into this new age bracket

Move

Matrimony

Malady

My answer is always the same…

Breathe

Reach for

Hands to hold steady

Release the corners of your mind

Relax the creases coalescing around

Doubt and fear

This might be where

After the dust settles…

A new life begins for you

A new life with blue skies

Just allow gray clouds to part

So the sun can shine through

Again

Thanks for Listening

I've Been Waiting for You by Nhojj

A road

A path

A channel

One mode of existence

Dissolving &

Another condition

Forming

Becoming

Words & phrases to connect

One idea to the next

Context

A

Caterpillar

Dissolves into mushy mess

Before reforming into beautiful

Butterfly

A

Seed is buried

Lost in the ground

Before realizing the tree living

Inside

Summer gives way to

Fall gives way to

Winter gives way to

Spring…

Mother gives birth to daughter

Daughter gives birth to mother

Cycle of life…

Flower buds

Flower blossoms

Flower dies

Oh but such radiance in full bloom

A hangout for hummingbird

Sparrow & butterfly

Birds & insects

Gather & sip nectar

Listen to buzz of bee wings

Melodies dance on spiderweb strings

Pollen spreads about town

So as flowers fall

Mother Earth opening arms to receive

Her floral gifts bits of fragrance

Linger here there &

Everywhere

Transitions

Allow us to become

More of ourselves

Newer versions of ourselves

Shinning flashlights in all corners of our being

Awakening the giant sleeping within

Laying dormant until stressors…

Sun & fire & rain & windstorm

Cause us to burst open

Our insides dissolving into mush

Nourishment for roots & wings to sprout

Grounding us even as we prepare to die

Crowning us even as we prepare fly

From this life to the next

It’s a matter of context

So breathe in this cocoon

Let life do its thing

Let seeds fall where they may

Let trees small at first

Grow tall

Do what is to be done

Today believing…

The best is yet to come

My first apartment was a tiny room, on the 13th floor, across the street from the Beacon Theatre in NYC. I’d found it while scanning the classified ads in the back of the Village Voice. It wasn’t much, but it was mine.

One summer afternoon, I looked out my window and saw a little drama unfolding. A man was sitting on the roof of the theatre with his feet dangling off the edge. A few feet behind him, a couple of men in ties and jackets talked to his back, while a larger group of men, on the sidewalk below, set up a life net. I don’t know what circumstances led him to that place, but I could definitely understand the urge to end it all.

A few months ago, my feet had been dangling off the edge. The path I was following had led me to a dead end… I couldn’t go forward… I couldn’t go backward. On that wintery night, I felt like all my options had turned their backs on me.

Luckily an angel was close by… saved me with a one whispered word… stop.

Meaning slowly dawned on me…

“Cherish Yourself” is 20 years of recording that meaning: journal entries… letters… lyrics… prose… poems… and essays. This little book pieces together the puzzle of a life… puzzle of my life. This piece goes here… this piece goes there… this peace fits in the center of it all.

I realize my experience may be different from yours, but hopefully we can all agree on the value of self love. “Cherish Yourself” is what self love looks like… feels like… sounds like… tastes like. Cherish Yourself is the hug you give yourself when the world around you can’t seem to embrace you.

PS

The fellow on the roof of the theatre walked away from the edge, and I began on a new path, gripping the hands of truth and faith, and taking deep breaths, with every step forward… “Cherish Yourself”.

To celebrate LGBT History Month, Cherish Yourself is on sale for the until October 31. Thank you for your support!

Kindle

Paperback

Amazon Uk store

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