Our language
will soon be hieroglyphs
in un-translated libraries
that will one day be stumbled upon
by curious kids
like the walls of the pyramids
decoded, reworded, falsely worshiped, and relived
turning our oral tradition
into fiction
relearning everything the Greeks and Egyptians did

Something Sphinx
and I think its poetry

Such a powerful alchemy
losing its potency
because the magicians
have mis-spelled
and casted a hollow doctrine so vocally

I don’t want to be a poet anymore
if I ever was one to begin with
because poetry is so much more
than what is indented

It is the WORD
and has such been since the beginning
and poets have done nothing
since except twist it and bend it
I am just here to testify,
not apologize if you’re offended

For I have recognized
that the WORD is not mine,
it belongs to a greater poet than I,
The Most High

For Jehova’s sake
if the first poem was LET THERE BE LIGHT
how does another poet follow
that on the mic?
Self righteously trying to decipher
his own scribbled handwriting
as he reads in the dark

Without these scrolls I’m just a babbling man
a crazed fan
of hearing myself talk

Because the written word is becoming a lost art,
a Noah’s ark
of languages unlearned
metaphors and unicorns,
but with papyrus, clay tablets or stone
I take my instructions as the bushes burn

And I write
to paint my soul on ice
with all the blues
of Langston’s Hues
They taught you how to kill a mockingbird
and I’ma teach you
how to bring him back to life
resurrected in the wombs
of Maya Angelous
so the caged bird that sang
can finally take flight

Before the grapes dry up
and become raisins in the sun
Before somebody walks up
to the Larraine Motel with a gun

maybe I can save just a little bit
of right now
if I open my eyes
close my mouth
and write it all down

because the past must first be binded
so the future remains bound
and the path will unfold
like falling pages
laying pavement
on the ground

From the Sumerian text of the Gilgamesh Epics
To the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John

The Apocrypha
The Brahmana
The Torah
The Quran
The Mahabharata
The Iliad
The Odyssey
The Dead Sea Scrolls
The Old and New Testament
The Hebrew,The King James, and the Shakespearian versions

From the Book of the Dead
To the Book of Life
Before I decide to recite another poem
I will write…

Ever since evacuating for Hurricane Katrina, Richard has been highly motivated to return to his city and partake in the rebuilding process. He has worked tirelessly towards bringing national attention to the issues in New Orleans. In June of 2008, he was awarded an NAACP award for a short film that he created to bring the recovery of New Orleans to a global stage.

Richard has been a Traffic court clerk for 3 years, and has worked closely with the New Orleans City Planning Commission during his internship at City Hall. Richard says, “The experience I’ve gained in the public administration process has inspired me to step up to the challenge of public service.” Richard knows he can bring the full time commitment and desire to The House of Representatives that the residents of District 97 need in order to spark a new era of recovery in the city of New Orleans, as well as the State of Louisiana. “Community based development and the recovery process begins with the people. District 97 has some of the strongest most effective neighborhood organizations in this city; the recovery has started with them and will continue to be successful with their involvement and leadership”, says Richard.

“I believe that I represent a new generation of effectiveness in this state, a generation that is willing to become involved in the issues that we see and read about in the news, a generation that has decided to devote the majority of their lives in making our communities a better place for the generations that will follow.”

Richard is in the process of contacting citizens to familiarize them with his qualifications and his plans for action. The house seat became available with the recent election of J.P. Morrell to the Louisiana Senate. The special election will be held on April 4th, 2009.

Honestly, the deeper I get into this political underworld, the more I can’t understand why someone would want to be a politician. First of all, you would have to spend at least three times more money on a campaign than you would make in a year if you were to get elected, so its not because the job pays well. Plus very few, if any, elected officials ever get to implement any actual change in their communities. And once you take public office you then pretty much become the one whom everybody blames. So I figured either people need new ways of flaunting their money, so they pick a seat and put on the most elaborate campaign they can think of; or their own vanity has pushed them to the point where they need to see their name plastered big and bold all around their municipal district; or their insecurity has driven them to a desire for power that can only be acquired behind a voting curtain; or their own self interest sees how they can benefit from the legislation and decision making process by passing the laws that keep only them and their friends rich.

Well, I don’t have any money to flaunt, I have more creative ways to display my vanity, I know the actual limitations of power that a state representative possesses, and I don’t have any rich friends that can benefit from me taking office… although I’m sure I’ll make some. So of all of the ways that change can be made in this city, why would I decide to go the route of politics to make a difference…? Well… the desire to be heard. That, and the right amount of ignorance. Ignorance to the true intentions behind those in politics, and the knowledge that politics is just an expensive platform for people to be heard, too bad most have nothing to say.

Well, my plan is to use politics as my platform and to become a voice for all of us. I’m going to say what I’m going to do. I’m going to say how I’m going to do it. I’m going to do it. Then I’m going to tell them how I did it. I know as long as we keep talking and marching up and down the streets of this city we will be seen, we may even be heard, but we will never be listened to. But once we challenge their administration and begin to put our names on the ballot and run a race that draws a big enough crowd then we can begin to become the change that we want to see in the world. Like a rising tide, all you need is the smallest crack at the bottom of a door for water to seep through slowly, and by the time people inside have paid any attention it is already waste high, and too late. So yes, I have decided to put myself on the ballot and run for state representative of district 97, and hopefully be that first drop of water that slips through the crack. I will put up my money, risk my good name, and jeopardize the integrity of my art for the sake of politics… because this city is something that I believe in. If you believe in it too, I would appreciate you support, and thank you to those whose support I already have.

Nik Richard
The Voice of Reason