Ballad of the Lonely MC

Away went the lonely MC From his laboratory, surely they’d see That none could near embody “dope” As wholly and purely as he Hours he’d spent, pupils pressed to the desk A steady nod, prolonged by the beat in his head No doctor or technician of language Could mimic the things that he penned Quatrains arc welded with assonance And back-sanded to stanzas pristine For any shrewd phrase that you conjured This lonely MC fashioned three He filled his backpack full of word play The fabric bulked out from punch lines amassed Away went the lonely MC For the night had arrived at last Bar upon bar he bore in his pack Step over step, he trudged through the street Head on to the wind, he kept his gaze to the ground And, on every wearied step, dropped a beat He lifted his face upon feeling a warmth Cheeks softly baked by lyrical flames And upon seeing the circle, silhouettes of strangers The lonely MC drew near to the place The round gathering was comprised of mere townsmen Amateur craftsmen, simpletons and peasants As far as the lonely MC was concerned There was nothing here present impressive But the beat tugged his torso forward and back Force-torn from the bap to the boom And the rhymes were just tight enough to tauten his ears The MC just had to spit too He knew he could show them, he knew he could rip it He was confident his skills were better honed The craft that he’d mastered, so much to boast He was dope; he had to let them know He was… King of the mic, you ain’t seen nothing like This, you had a down day? I’m here to bring up the night The best you ever heard, rap’s deputed messenger Don’t stand too close cause you may get a burn (yeah!) Get it learned, I got verses fresh out of the furnace You think your lyrics bubble, but I’m about to burst it A person with purpose to leave you out of service Don’t even think about how to birth kids (ungh!) I do this, I do this all day and all night (yeah?) I do this, I do this, gotta say it all twice (word!) You gotta pay a tall price to obtain these hot rhymes Lucky for you though, the favor’s all mine Yeah I’m the best see, don’t even test me Like Tropicana, I spill the sweet so freshly (hmm!) And I rip it so hotly that nobody wants me That’s why they call me the lonely em— “YO!” came the call, cold and shattering His performance appeared to lie strewn across the floor in glass pieces Cheeks flushed red, perplexity and heavy breathing The lonely MC had only been dreaming There was a microphone diaphragm hovering in front of his face Bewildered, his eyes refocused and met all the others staring back The beat was still driving, the heads were still nodding Then came the question, “Hey, you here to rap?” Shaking off the confusion, he saw the mic was held by an outstretched arm And that arm was connected to a human being Who had an inquisitive face, one of thought and generosity He wanted to hear the lonely MC speak The MC looked up and around at all the bobbing bodies He didn’t know whether to press off or press on His heart was still racing, but outwardly he looked unmoved With a calm shrug, the lonely MC said “Nah…” “Nah” was the statement, and “Nah” was the fate The microphone was swiftly born away And the cypher resumed as all cyphers must do As if the MC had never gone or came The routine was restored, the rhyming went round Everybody acted just as alive He listened for a few minutes before uneasily rising The lonely MC turned and left just as he had arrived Away went the lonely MC Away from the circle, away to the cold Away with his conditioned and carefully designed devices That may very well have grown stale and old Who’s to say if they remain lain on hold? Decayed as phrases or relayed as soul? Away went the lonely MC To his lab the same way he had come And still to this day, no one knows of his name Much less what he’s capable of