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Tell me, what wouldn’t have happened
If you had never lived?
Had never been born.
If the ambulance driver rushing your mother to the hospital
Had fallen asleep at the wheel…

Who would we blame for making the world poorer without you?

Perhaps the makers of his cough medicine who leaned too hard on the drowsy formula
Causing him to lean likewise on the pedal.
Perhaps the shift manager who scheduled him to drive his ambulance
and his vehicle beyond their breaking point…

Or maybe they deserve a round of applause
Because all you’ve ever contributed was pre-mature abortion
To the happiness of those around you.
Is your sheer presence and eviction notice
for other people’s peace of mind?

And how many on this planet will die with a healthy tan
Because you put the sunshine in their lives?

The slightest act can change the course of the world forever!

What if Dr. King’s father had found his mother attractive,
but held his tongue like a vice-grip on the throat of history?

What if Katherine told Joe Jackson children just weren’t in their future
and subsequently, neither was “Thriller.”

What if Hitler got accepted into art school?
Would the canvas of world politics be a beautiful landscape
were it missing its Mushroom Clouds?

And if the Natives had burned Christopher Columbus’ boats,
What would would be the face of the “Average American?

And what wouldn’t have happened if you had never lived?

If all the world’s a stage, each day, a new act in your personal legend,
Did you at least give a noteworthy performance?
Do you know people who have mastered the English language,
But don’t know the meaning of the word “impossible!?”
It doesn’t compute,
So their courage reprograms our software, glitching the Matrix
Making doors where there were none before!

Oceans part like Bible pages in their footsteps, so we follow them
Out of our bondage, out of our minds,
Because they were crazy enough not to believe in the Triangular Trade
Of Self-Doubt, Procrastination, And Regret!

Where we saw driftwood from the slaveship Amistad,
They saw a surfboard, and were just nuts enough
To Hang-10 into the Promised Land!

And we get to say we watched it all happen
And they get to say we could make it happen ourselves.
And when the poets sit oceanside and tell the children of your triumph
They will search their own footprints on their paths to be legends!

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Theo "Lucifury" Wison is a founding member of the Denver Slam Nuba team, who won the National Poetry Slam in 2011. He began his speaking career in the N.A.A.C.P. at the age of 15, and has always had a passion for social justice. He attended Florida A&M University, where he obtained his B.A. in Theater Performance.

Upon graduating, he interned as a full time actor in St. Louis Black Repertory Company, where he was introduced to Slam Poetry, and has never looked back. In 2004, he returned to Denver, winning many local slams against Denver's top competitors. He won the 2007 Erotic Poetry Slam in Austin, Texas, and in 2009, he had the honor of placing 5th in the world at the International World Poetry Slam.

He teaches and lectures on poetry with the Art-From-Ashes nonprofit poetry therapy organization, and is a proud resident of Denver, Colorado. Theo has opened for performers such as Dead Prez, The Flobots, Bahamadia, Saul Williams, Taylor Mali and Universes. 

For more information, please visit thereallucifury.com

This Post Has 2 Comments

  1. Hi Theo,

    Thank you for sharing your wisdom in a refreshingly new way.
    It has certainly jolt me up in a very pleasant way and give me
    more impetus in pursuit of my dreams.

    Warm Regards,
    Ck Chang

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