the way things are.

real ninjas gotta be willing to look at the big picture.
as in:
the way things are.
but, for really real, the way they actually are,
not just how you want them to be.
telling tall tales over and over doesn't make them true stories.
no matter how applicable the parable.
i mean,
the truth usually even better than the adjustments made to it.
the way things are, my ninjas.
i'm sayin';
convincing yourself that the 'edited for t.v.' version is better than the original,
or that the movie is better than the book,
will only ever f* up the next chapter.
what's next is dependent on what is.
that's word.
and what it is is the result of what was.
spirit and memory...
i'll repeat myself over and over,
because i'm all about what it is.
make moves to manipulate the way things are.
what is determines what's comin', right?
so be dope, and wrench each day to eleven.
c'mon, for cryin' out loud....
that's warrior poetry in motion.
know your history, and write your own.

truth tellers, yo.
can't, won't, & don't stop, y'heard?
especially after experiencing the cleverly edited almost-true account of history that gets told in certain recently visited places.
straw into gold.
that's the level of spinning goin' on.
every story has a bright side;
a.k.a. the way it sorta is...
or,
the way we wish it was....
but i'm not interested in the way it could be;
because that's not exactly the same stew we boil up when just being dope, is it?
i don't wanna sip from lemonade made from life's lemon's in a half-full glass, mutha-ucka.
i want to chug a flagon of fury poured from a barbarian barrel of piss and vinegar.
that's some secret-ingredient, hot fire spit recipe sh!t right there, ya'll.

i want the doo-doo buttery,
squeamish and uncomfortable,
grit-grimy really real story.
every time.
every day.
everywhere.
not just names and dates,
but details.
i want the scoop, ya'll.
explicit-type sh!t.
from face-punchin' 'hood ninjas,
to radical genderqueer librarians,
to dysfunctional 'high-sodium waterbaby city' relationships.
i want it ALL,
as long as it's all true.
sugar-coating doesn't make for real-life documentation, son. 
i want to know what's really happening.
and it's ALL really happening over here;
that's the point.
worthy lives gettin' lived to eleven,
honestly.
purple prose notwithstanding,
make sure your life is a true-story,
never quiet, never soft...