streetlight publications

new email address

2009-01-18T06:35:00.000-08:00

Hey, everyone. If you need to contact me through email, then my new address is the following: KennethWhite@live.com. I am in the process of changing some of my information online, so I apologize to those of you who have been trying to get at me. Blessings.

COMING SOON: quit like a man (February 2009)

2009-01-16T18:10:00.000-08:00

My new poetry chapbook quit like a man will soon be available in February, 2009. This is my second volume, and several spoken-word circles in Beaumont and Houston are already anticipating its release. I know that the bookstores are flooded with men's "self-help" books, and this chapbook is everything BUT those....raw energy, cutting honesty, unbridled flows...what more could you ask for? Contact Streetlight Publications for your copy today. Peace (John 14:27).

ready

2008-01-05T07:58:00.000-08:00

"O let us be married! too long we have tarried."

-- Edward Lear (from "The Owl and the Pussycat")

I. *

Since that night when my eyes were first glazed
by your face in a friend's photo,
my heartbeats slowed down,
mellowed like the Matrix.

They continue to keep me suspended
in that split second when a man least expects
to meet that woman he must get to know for life.

Since our first "Harry met Sally" on the phone,
your voice began opening my ears
to strings more attractive
than the London Festival Orchestra,

and I just wanted to waltz with you,
watch and learn your every step.

Looking back over six years,
every one of our questions,
answers,
arguments,
secrets,
skeletons,
prides,
prejudices,
prayers
and comforts
make me realize
that love only survives
with a commitment to work,
sacrifice and compromise.

I know that we have done
a number on each other,
but I want us to number
the rest of our days together.

Love bears and endures all things,
and next to the Friend
of publicans and sinners,
you are my best friend
and blessing for each new day.

To find a wife is a good thing,
so are we ready for those times

to weep,
to laugh,
to mourn,
to dance,
to embrace,
to refrain from embracing,
to get,
to lose,
to keep,
to cast away,
to be silent,
to speak,
to love,
to hate,
to give birth,
to face death

while trusting Christ at all times,
pouring out our hearts before Him?

II.

Where will you be and Whose will you be,
when the King calls you to the wedding?

Are the matters of this world
too much for you to notice
the precious preparation
He presents to us?

We make light of His law
that we continue to break,
light of the burden
that this adds to our weight,
light of the judgment
and darkness that waits
for those that see darkness as light
and light as darkness.

We flee to our farms and merchandise,
showing little thanks except to shank
the servants who speak of this feast.

The sacrifice has been made
as the Lamb without blemish
shed His blood out of love
for sinners to take seats
at these all-you-can-eat tables
of milk, honey, bread,
fish, water and wine.

Yet, we act like we have no time,
and one day, this will become true
because when the King brings His wrath,
what can you and I do?

It's going to take so much more
than sneaking through the back door,
hoping to blend into the crowd
feeling proud and singing out loud
about our church attendance,
huge offerings, long prayers, baptisms,
prosperity shemes and end-time schisms,

without wearing a wedding garment
that can only be bought through Christ's blood.

The King calls many but chooses a few
based on His grace and not what we do.

How this can be, I hold no clue,
but I can at least see
that none of this even had to be:

the miracle of a harlot changed into a bride
walking down the aisle to Yeshua's right side.

Where will you be and Whose will you be
when the King calls you to the wedding?

* Dedicated to my new, beloved fiancee: thanks for saying, "Yes"

xoxoxoxo....infinity

NOW AVAILABLE: hip hop is not dead, but sleepeth

2007-11-23T10:10:00.000-08:00

My first chapbook is now out, and it's been receiving favorable responses in the underground. Brothers and sisters like myself who represent hip hop music and culture are confronting introspective questions and major crossroads in our day (I know we may say, "What else is new?"), but I say that it's time for resurrection. Check out these twelve hard-hitting flows encouraging you to chuckle, think and maybe (just maybe) find life in the midst of death.

1) probably sucks (all is vanity)
2) paper cuts
3) steal away
4) better
5) freedom (inspired by umar bin hassan)
6) red, black and green
7) why I wouldn't last in a poetry slam
8) coward
9) java house notes
10) priorities
11) think twice
12) ways of the world

Drop me an email today to learn how to receive your copy.

If you want to see a revolution, then look in the mirror.

Peace (John 14:27).

hip hop is not dead, but sleepeth (first official chapbook - coming soon)

2007-06-26T16:20:00.000-07:00

I am preparing my first official chapbook hip hop is not dead, but sleepeth for release. Lord willing, it will soon become available through this site [as well as through my backpack, car trunk and local bookstore(s)]. Hey, what can I say? I've learned from hanging around fellow artists and friends that independent sales and distribution is the way to go. More details later.

* Mark 5:35-43

better

2006-10-20T20:23:00.000-07:00

Someday I want to watch
the President giving
the State of the Union address
and say to myself,
"She always did pay attention
in my British literature class."

I want to develop such rock hard abs
that my future wife giggles
like a bubbly groupie
when she tickles me on the couch.

I want to flood the offices
of each literary magazine
with a hundred and fifty-three
hard-hitting poems,
every one of them different,
not because they'll publish them
but because they'll remember
how hunger must drive the heart of a writer.

I want to always be able
to look a stranger in the eyes
and share the promises of God
without coughing up butterflies.

I want my future children
to choose the Apostle Paul
over Dr. Seuss when they want me
to read to them before bedtime.

I want to sleep without my snores
waking me and scaring any 2 A.M.
tenants drinking in the parking lot
outside my apartment window.

I want to invest more time,
energy and common sense
into praying for my worst enemies.

I want to think about my response
every time someone calls me
out of my name or out of my shame.

I want to call my parents more often
and tell them how much
their sacrifices mean to me
while I still have the chance.

I want the willpower to pass up
that peanut butter cookie staring at me
when I walk through Starbucks.

I want to assure the woman I wed
that she will be my only queen
and that my day will feel empty
if I can't serve her in some way.

I want to show more respect
to disrespectful students
so that if they learn
nothing else in my class
then they'll never forget
the meaning of that term.

I want to shake my head in disgust
while reading my past poems
so that I'll stay motivated
to reach deeper and farther the next time.

I want to open at least one door
for fifteen other eclectic voices,
each one adopting the same conviction.

I want my similes and metaphors
to keep young people awake at night,
exorcising their fear of the future.

I want to learn how to cook so well
that the flavors will ease any headaches
my lady and I may have that day.

I want to pioneer spoken word mixtapes
and keep caravans of Cadillacs
vibrating in parking lots
at midnight for ten bucks a pop
to pay utilities and bring home roses.

I want today's kids to know the difference
between having dreams and living dreams.

I want to always be able to deal with my past
instead of letting my past deal with me
so that I can concentrate on that path
shining more and more
unto the perfect day.

So what am I waiting for?

Copyright 2006. Streetlight Publications.