SUNDAY THOUGHTS: POETRY PROMPT

 SUBSTANCE 

Some have been criticized, blackballed, and overlooked

Some were the ones who “they” warned others not to call

Some have been deemed irrelevant, played out, or boring

Some have been dissed, as if they had no worth at all

Some have been the subject of much speculation 

Some have been told they lacked the “it” factor required

Some were informed that their mere presence was determined 

By a single person’s approval, or hire

Those things affect you, only if you want what “they” think

Makes your offering more lucrative in life

If you chase after “their” rewards, awards, and trinkets

Desire proximity to those on the inside

Those things affect you, when you’re stuck in competition 

And put more faith in an industry than you should

Lose the ability to acknowledge skill and substance 

Dismiss integrity that a fool never would

But, when you know who inspires, sustains, and guides you

You can laugh when you’re excluded from “their” sphere

You remember who sits on the Earth’s circle

You remember who’s the reason you’re still here—

Still writing, still composing, still creating

Without the least concern for likes, or streams, or hits

Because you’ve seen songs soar, without lifting a finger

Success, despite the sparse promotion substance gets 

You see the body of work you’ve had a hand in

That’s just as solid, now, as it has ever been

And shake your head when arrogant voices decry it

And fail to see how what precedes, paves ways for them

Woe to the naysayers, critics, and gatekeepers

Do they really think that they possess the might

To bury or outshine jewels of actual substance 

With clanging cymbals, and not expect a fight?

But, Time is the dictator of what endures

What lives and thrives; revives, and never, ever fades 

What people STILL  reach for when excellence is needed

The anecdote to cheer, heal, and chase fear away

What has been kissed by God, and rooted in his teaching

Ordained and motivated purely by His Word

Will NEVER die, and one thing is for certain 

Any thought to the contrary, is absurd.

-VRW2025

#musicmatters

#gospelmusic

#historymatters