Midnight Maurading

My "dancing" shoes...

The undeniable sound of "Mystic Brew" begins,

Not J. Cole's sample,

but my greatest love for 20 years.

Honey check it out, 

you got me mesmerized...

And the DJ remembers,

asks the crowd, "Do you remember where you were

20 years ago, when this album dropped?"

I do...eighth grade.

I let myself return, and gave in
to the feeling I had when that song grabbed me

and told me I was that girl.

Wit your black hair 

and your fat ass thighs...

Did my two-step and was feelin' good,

til I remembered Dwele saying, 

"It takes two to tango." 

Hmmm...

And, evidently, only one to two-step.

Street poetry is my every day,

but you I gotta stop when you drop my way...

Still in the music with my eyes closed,

I went back a few hours

and remembered my parents' anniversary dinner.

I sat across from an empty chair another year.

The fifth wheel...

If I was workin' at the club,

you would not pay...

...and three hours later I'm two-steppin' at Lounge of III,

full of Tribe, feelin' alone,

repeating all the words to a song I love at the top of my lungs

to the DJ's delight!

"We got a real Hip Hop fan in here..." (on the mic)

Stretch out your legs let me make you bawl,

drive you insane drive you up the wall. 

Staring at your dome piece, very strong,

Stronger than pride, stronger than Teflon.

Real Hip Hop fan...great,

Nobody's beating down the door for them.

Today they want chicks with anthems

(If you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it...)

And good girls who act like bad bitches,

so they can turn them back into good girls

(...you act so different around me...).

So I go where the hip hop is loud,

and I can midnight maraud like it's new.

You can be my mama and I'll be your boy...

If I had been alone, I may have shed a tear

for all the people walking by, looking in, 

ignoring the native tongues,

but I kept up appearances,

forced myself to stay in the moment

and thought back to black and white.

A busy New York street,

a cab, a girl dressed for winter.

Q-tip wasn't even looking for her when he saw her.

Chemistry, all the same...

Since when do we have to be lookin' 

for all we want and need to find it?

Shorty let my tell you 'bout my only vice,

it has to do wit lots a lovin',

and it ain't nothin' nice.

Q-tip let her pass.

Probably chalked it up to coincidence,

or bad timing...or an "abstract" video,

...or the wrong song...

She was a flake like corn

and I was born

not to understand 

by letting her pass

I proved to be a better man...

SHE KEEPS ON PASSIN' MEEEEEE BY!