You will not be able to stay home, brother.
You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out.
You will not be able to lose yourself on skag and skip,
Skip out for beer during commercials,
Because the revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be televised.
The revolution will not be brought to you by Xerox
In 4 parts without commercial interruptions.
The revolution will not show you pictures of Nixon
blowing a bugle and leading a charge by John
Mitchell, General Abrams and Spiro Agnew to eat
hog maws confiscated from a Harlem sanctuary.
The revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be brought to you by the
Schaefer Award Theatre and will not star Natalie
Woods and Steve McQueen or Bullwinkle and Julia.
The revolution will not give your mouth sex appeal.
The revolution will not get rid of the nubs.
The revolution will not make you look five pounds
thinner, because the revolution will not be televised, Brother.

There will be no pictures of you and Willie May
pushing that shopping cart down the block on the dead run,
or trying to slide that color television into a stolen ambulance.
NBC will not be able predict the winner at 8:32
or report from 29 districts.
The revolution will not be televised.

There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down
brothers in the instant replay.
There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down
brothers in the instant replay.
There will be no pictures of Whitney Young being
run out of Harlem on a rail with a brand new process.
There will be no slow motion or still life of Roy
Wilkens strolling through Watts in a Red, Black and
Green liberation jumpsuit that he had been saving
For just the proper occasion.

Green Acres, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Hooterville
Junction will no longer be so damned relevant, and
women will not care if Dick finally gets down with
Jane on Search for Tomorrow because Black people
will be in the street looking for a brighter day.
The revolution will not be televised.

There will be no highlights on the eleven o’clock
news and no pictures of hairy armed women
liberationists and Jackie Onassis blowing her nose.
The theme song will not be written by Jim Webb,
Francis Scott Key, nor sung by Glen Campbell, Tom
Jones, Johnny Cash, Englebert Humperdink, or the Rare Earth.
The revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be right back after a message
bbout a white tornado, white lightning, or white people.
You will not have to worry about a dove in your
bedroom, a tiger in your tank, or the giant in your toilet bowl.
The revolution will not go better with Coke.
The revolution will not fight the germs that may cause bad breath.
The revolution will put you in the driver’s seat.

The revolution will not be televised, will not be televised,
will not be televised, will not be televised.
The revolution will be no re-run brothers;
The revolution will be live
.

Shala: My pleasure, and it’s so nice to reconnect with you too.  You know, I have an image of you and your brother stuck in my head from thousands of years ago.  It’s not so clear now but somehow I’ve never forgotten it.  We are standing at the pedestrian crossing at the school.  I’d just returned from buying ”sweets” at the ”co-op” remember that? I was about to go back to the school and the two of you were waiting, what for I can’t really remember now.  It eludes me and I’ve always wondered if you remembered that moment.

Lovee: (Laughing out loud)I wouldn’t doubt that for a second! My brother and I were in the same class from primary(elementary) school througout secondary (high) school. My mom wanted it that way, so we were always together. I don’t think he liked that very much, (laughing out loud) but those are some treasured memories.

Shala:Yes, i can see it as clear as day that you seemed to be stuck together. I suppose that must have been a gift to spend the first sixteen years of your life joined to your brother like that. I’m sure he was annoyed though. (smiling)

Lovee: (Laughing out loud) back then i think we both saw it as a curse more than a gift, since my brother was very much the introvert and me an extrovert and some (laughing out loud). But, looking back, I think that experience created a bond between  us that I believe will always be there and sustain us throughout our lives. (Smiling) Ok, so first off, i have to say thank you for taking the time to support me at my book launch in New York. It meant alot having a fellow Saint Lucian and a great role model as yourself showing your support, so thank you…

Shala: Remember that mantra we used to say standing at assembly every day in Primary School?  No man is an island…

image: Jonathan Guy Gladding

Lovee: Indeed! And we sure do we realise its true meaning as we grow. You know, when i saw you in New York after so many years, I just kept thinking to myself…more

1: energy, PEP

2: courage, determination

3: know-how, expertise

“Nature is a wonderful thing… I study it only through feeling.”

-The Diary of Vaslav Nijinsky

-Photo: Cat playing with twine. by shala monroque

A man explores a Lygia Pape sculpture.

-Derek Walcott

What the twilight says

-photo: shala monroque Roman Summer Night