Accent

All accent and no content

Spouting words

Spouting words

All accent and no content...

That's what I hear, when I 'hear' you

Speaking in another's tongue...

Dis foreign thing irritates me...

I can't appreciate its dialect, portrayed as talent...

And they scream and clap cause, 'you're gifted'

Say de catch words, drop de punch line & you've won the crowd...

Fickle are they or is it a case of mistaken identity?

The idiolect of a 'Def Jam Poet' mix up in we trini twang.

No one said you can't be inspired or aspire to be, but...

'Ah cyah' identify the you, the me or the we in this thing you do...

You confuse the spoken word element of this poetry -

Cause what I hear is all accent and no content...

Wha ya saying? Talk to me.

Dis representation of what sounds like a poet, 

walks like a poet, looks like a poet - must be a poet...

- Is counterfeit...

I don't know who gave you the ABCs or what ruberic yuh following,

but this mix up thing won't work, cause I can't hear you.

Dat aint me...

I'm experiencing a language barrier here.

Carrier of a message; a vessel, a griot, an orator...

Entertain if you wish, but communicate so that I can relate.

I want to connect with you beyond the words you spout from your mouth...

feel you, feel me and be transported by the spirit of the word,

but your accent deters me from listening - I have to strain my ears 

to hear beyond the masking of your voice - that is NOT your voice...

Too much 'noise'... Why camouflage? Who impressing who and for what?

Just to hear a round of applause? Just for approval?

When the message is profound, silence is golden...

Gives the mind time to ponder, dissect or digest - gives the body time to soak it in...

But I can't hear the content when your message is lost in translation...

Decode it and let me hear YOU speak 

Mih eh wha hear no Jamaican if ya aint no Jamaican

and a surely don't want to hear another fresh water yankee...

because yuh gone 'foreign' and come back last week...

and then you have the gall to call yourself, 'ah Trini'!

So do yourself a favour, leave di accent where yuh find it...

that currency we doh accept here...

Play your part well in this movement

Represent the artform in its truest and basic form

If this is your inducement...

If your endearment for words, is more than just words...

Drop de accent, bring your content and the you that makes it potent...

Don't suffer from follow fashion, wishy washy, copycat syndrome 

and lose your greatest asset or rob me of quality: 

Identify your IDENTITY!

Written by: Rachael N. Collymore

© 2011