Concrete Thoughts
A collection of urban poetry
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
“Confusion” ®
As I sit here in a world that’s full of darkness and pain I suffer with myself and all of my inadequacies.
No, I’m not perfect nor do I choose to be, I am satisfied with myself but still I’m not happy, I love my life but I don’t want to go on any more with a life that’s like mine.
In my world everyone is the enemy and no one can be trusted, I try hard to avoid those that’s not of my world, but yet I want to get to know them, I want to study them, I want to learn their language and find out why they are different from me and others of my world.
In all of my worlds darkness I tend to be searching for a never ending light that I’m really not looking for, at times I can hear a eminent voice that’s both familiar and unfamiliar to my ears, and through the thick darkness of my mind I can clearly see two hands stretched out as if to embrace me, to comfort me and to secure me, in that I know that this is no part of my world, but there seems to be no escaping these images, these wonders.... What do they want?, What should I do?, Do they want to take me away from my world of darkness, the only real and true world that says I fit and I belong, the only world that I truly hate to enjoy...., Confusion.
“Woman” ®
Things in a life can be so precious, so gentle, but yet evil and degrading.
How could a life so cruel treat you kindly?
My mind is as the world itself, constantly moving and rotating around dreams and great ideas with the flaw of never manifesting these dreams and ideas into a reality.
In my mind I see red roses blooming in eternal tears of fire with a intense flame of of hate and deceit burning through the hearts and souls of each rose petal of life, never to understand the real and true meaning of its spark.
(You Are).... ®
You are the smile in my life that always find a way to make me laugh,
You are the warm water that soothes my body as I take a bath.
You are....
You are the sunshine of my days.
You are the food that I eat that fills me up,
You are the blessings that I receive because I don’t believe in luck.
You are....
You are the every thought in my mind.
You are the blanket that clings to my body at night,
You are the vision in my dreams that let me know everything is alright.
You are....
You are the thousands of veins that flows throughout my heart.
You are the oxygen from the trees that keeps me alive,
You are the struggle in my life that makes me stronger to strive.
You are....
You are every breath that I take, Every beat of my heart, Every step that I walk.
But most of all....You are my flower, You are my friend....and I love you.
“They’re Not”? ®
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About the Book
Enclosed in this book you will find a true collection of original urban poetry that takes the reader from their seats and on a journey in the life and into the mind and thoughts of a true person of the streets. As a first time author La'Shawn K Nicks-Bey has brought his “A” game to the table as he opens himself up for the whole world to seem him and life through his vision. You will be overwhelmed and surprised by the artistic intelligence and raw emotions that is applied to every word. So buckle up and prepare for a roller coaster ride from the cold streets though the experiences of lost love, science, history, and pain to political views, world corruption, and lessons learned from being in a gang. Concrete thoughts is a powerful must read that is packed with heart filled poetry with a urban and controversial edge, and in it's education this book is definitely set to arouse and to tickle the confines of the sleeping mind. Enjoy!
About the Author
Born the youngest of six siblings on Oct.1, 1971 at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago Illinois, I was raised in a housing project called the Dearborn Homes, where for me, life seemed to be a never ending struggle, but despite the gangs and all the violence that was around me everyday, I always maintained my ability and my passion to write and to be creative. My father worked for the steel mill and was a bouncer at a club in down town Chicago at night where he eventually lost his life, I was either 4 or 5 years old when I lost my father, but I still have vague memories of him, then at the age of 15 I lost my mother to cancer, and since then, I've been raised in the streets and by the streets, because after my mom died my family just went their separate ways, so at this age I was forced to live a life that my mom had always sheltered me from, in this life I learned the real and true meaning of hustle and survival, and in this life I've done almost everything imaginable just to live to see another day, the organization that I was affiliated with became my second family and my loyalty was to them. Although I did two prison terms in Illinois, all of my willingness to write was forgotten until I was doing my first prison sentence in Minnesota for Aggravated Robbery, my passion for writing was renewed and it was the first time that I decided to take my writing seriously. In 1996 when I was released from that term, I got back to hustling, but still I appeared on a top Minneapolis radio station to say a few of my poems, I even remember a few people calling the station to say how much they liked what I had to say, it was all good, but poetry wasn't putting no money in my pockets, so I kept on hustling and writing until on Jan.11,1999 when I got picked up for shooting 3 people in North Minneapolis for beating up a relative of mine, I got sentenced a year later to 163 months and my life as I knew it was over, I lost everything!!! I felt bad for losing all of my material possessions, but nothing came close to the pain that I felt for losing my wife and our daughter, right now as I write this I could feel a cold emptiness inside my chest, but still I stay strong with the hopes of re -establishing the unity and the bond that I once had with my family. But in light of everything, I want the words of my poems to touch the hearts and minds of people like me, I put true life experience in every word, Real will recognize Real, so peep game.