After the Fire

This is what comes after

In more ways than one

After the fire and the ashes were gone

It took time to build desire up to write a new song

So much destruction, so much went wrong

These objects we all thought were sacred are gone

Love is the foundation we've been building upon

And with that still solid, we are carrying on

This is new growth after all our old things burned

Like a ceremony, but we were forced to learn

The way forests thrive with the small fires

Gotta clear space for some things to grow higher

And if we don't, this consumes us all

I'm in the city now, watching all these ashes fall

Thinking 'bout what grows when the time comes

'Cause the climate got a whole human crisis

Capitalism has got us sick, we gotta fight it

Until the day that we can all stand united, after the fire

After the fire took away our place

After the flames burned all our thangs

After the ashes fell like the rain

After the pain we grew in a new way

After the fire took away our place

After the flames burned all our thangs

After the ashes fell like the rain

After the pain we grew in a new way

After the fire stopped blazing from the bombing of our island

I wonder if my Nana started smiling

Did she feel liberated by the end of Japanese violence?

Or feel conflicted by the invasion of American tyrants?

It's amazing how a flame can be used to abuse

Or be worked with lovingly to help forests renew

And if only we knew what our ancestors would do

As the empire falls, look to the past for the truth

Innovate new tools, infusing prayer and intuition

The poetics of the elements, revealing premonitions

Time moves in cycles

The land is insightful

New growth thrives right after a typhoon

There's wildfires in my birth land

And rising tides in my homeland

They say it's only getting worse

And we plant new seeds every time we touch a mic and notepad

After the fire was treated like a relative

After the flame was seen like a medicine

After the ash was applied to our face

After the pain we found a new strength

After the fire was treated like a relative

After the flame was seen like a medicine

After the ash was applied to our face

After the pain we found a new strength

It's like we lifting up the hood

I ain't no mechanic but the little engine could

Holding on some gasoline and rolling up the wood

Shango in the trees like, homie wish you would

Leaning on Orishas so I put it in m'Oshun

Sent us back to hell, but they said it was no room

Hero to a villain, guess we living in Dune

I ain't really in the mood

I be staring at the moon

We the only people who ain't even got a name

But the whole world eating off of African pain

You can peep the averages

Reading Middle Passages

Word to Pocahontas' Daddy

They called us some savages too

But see me I know the truth

So even when I say I'm Black

That mean Indigenous roots

From Seattle to Mogadishu

Don't try to make an issue

Naw I ain't the mayor

But they know that we been official

How we travel waters but they saying we can't swim?

Why my cuddy gotta take a plea when the case slim?

Even when we hot, we can lie, can't win

Wanna be free but the city is caged in

Real life

After the fire, I ain't had no friends left

After the flame, I was lost on impact

After the break, had to let that past go

After the pain, knew it wouldn't last though

After the Nu Growth, there was an NRG

After the first SOW, there was a trilogy

The fire next time gon' come for the industry

When it all fades, all we got is the memories

We rose from the ashes of our history

When the darkness comes to light

But despite this fight, the future is bright

We gon' be alright