This is a time of penury, paucity, parsimony

This is a time of flat screen TVs, BMWs,Prada bags

This is also the time that the bills have come due

And we are realizing that we just can’t pay

This is also the time of abundance

If we chance to look within

There we can find peace, philanthropy, power

What we lack on the outside are things we never really needed

What we have on the inside is what we’ve never really tested

It is time to listen to our inner griot

The master of our soul who holds truths passed down from our forefathers

It is time to realize the future is in history that by recognizing

By embracing,

By embellishing

By paying the bills of the past

We can face tomorrow with or without the flat screen

With or without the Benz

With or without the myriad things we use to distract us

From ourselves