Once Again (2023) Movie Script
1
I built the temple.
Now it's gone.
That's just the way it is.
So why can't I move on?
I know the nature of life
is constant change
and so is the individual
experience within it.
A wave
taking shape for one moment
and then sinking back into
the body of the ocean.
It's a matter of
perspective, too.
I mean,
get close enough to that wave
closer
and closer,
and it loses its shape
and you're inside of it,
and reality becomes something
else entirely.
Fly up high enough
and you lose sight of that wave,
and all you can see is the wide,
flat surface of the ocean.
If you want to see that wave,
experience that wave,
be that wave,
you got to be in the right place
at the right time.
And by right,
mind you,
I'm not attaching any particular
value to being there.
I'm just saying that's
the way it is.
Fate,
creation,
chance.
All you can do is react,
appreciate, embrace
and just be there and try not to
fuck things up too much.
Which generally speaking,
tends to be my contribution
to the moment.
Any moment.
Every moment.
This moment.
Naima?
Oh hi.
You look amazing. Naima?
Just give me a second, okay?
Naima?
Everyone's out here.
Are you planning on staying in
here by yourself forever?
Dear God.
Do you hate me?
What did I do to be cast
out by you?
To be cursed with a life of love
and warmth and touch?
Did I offend you, God?
Did I offend you
that I am sentenced to
a mother's embrace?
Did I offend you that I am
condemned to
a father's compassion?
What did I do to you, God?
Why have you wiped it
from my memory?
Would knowledge of my crime be
too terrible for me to bear?
Did I trespass against you, God?
To be punished with
infinite kindness?
Did I offend you
to have my ears
poisoned with music?
My palate made bitter
with sweetness?
My eyes blinded with beauty?
How did I offend you?
What did I do to deserve the
sting of tenderness
and the misery of acceptance,
free of judgment or condition?
Did I offend you, God?
God?
God?
I saw her for the first time
right after I killed him.
Crazy bro.
Is he very old
or does he have the
face of a child?
Is he innocent?
Or is he guilty?
Am I innocent?
Or am I guilty?
Did I know better then?
Or do I know better now?
Am I alone or am I with others?
Are there others?
Am I touching them?
Are they touching me?
Does it matter who I touch
or who touches me?
Am I touching anyone?
Are there many
or is there just one?
Is life for the living?
In death all's forgiven.
I feel something.
Rather feel
nothing at all.
Is life for the living?
Is death all forgiving?
Pain that I've hidden.
But is that really living?
Oh.
Rather feel nothing
at all.
Don't want to
feel something.
Is life for the living?
In death all's forgiven.
I feel something,
I feel something,
I feel something.
I feel.
I feel...
- Why is he touching me?
- He's afraid.
Of what?
Of everything.
Of nothing. Of no one.
Of everyone.
Is he afraid of me?
If I open this door,
where will I be?
Where do you want to go?
Back.
Again?
There's no such thing as again.
Again is a trick of
the imagination.
Everything is always new.
Then open the door.
I'm going to go back first.
Uh, uh, uh, uh.
There's no going back.
You just said yourself
that everything is new,
which means everything is now.
Yeah, and now
I'm going back.
Going back where?
Here.
Bro, it's the same door.
Yeah,
but I'm different now.
Okay. You're different,
but the door is still the same.
That's a damn lie.
Everything is always changing.
So even if it's the same door,
it's different now too.
The same door's a different door
all the time.
Then open it.
There are other doors.
Are there?
Or are they all the same door.
With a different
illusion waiting behind it for
you each time it's open?
I don't know.
Oh, oh, oh, maybe
every door is the same.
With a different illusion
waiting for you.
I guess there's no way to tell.
Does it matter what's behind the
door? Or is all that matters is
the act
of reaching out and opening it?
I don't have to open this door
or any of them.
I can just stand right here
and wait.
Wait for what?
For someone to come out
and find me.
How long do you plan on
doing that for?
Someone has to come
out eventually.
How you doing?
Right on.
Well.
That was exciting.
Was it everything you
were hoping for?
Who are you looking for?
What are you looking for?
Are you looking for me?
I hope not.
Because I'm invisible.
He thinks he can see me.
He always thinks he
can see me.
Are you him every time?
Or are you different?
Are there more than one of you?
Are you all the same?
What does it matter?
There might be a thousand of
you.
Or you might be the same one in
disguise.
But you can't even see me.
I'm actually kind of nervous to
say it, but
I've never met anyone like you.
You're just so beautiful.
It's like a dream I had that
I never forgot.
I'm invisible.
I don't know, when you talk
I feel like I'm listening to a
song.
I don't even realize what you
said until the music
finished washing over me.
I'm invisible.
Please don't take this the
wrong way, because I know this
is not all about me.
Well, you listen to me better
than anyone else I know.
Better than my own mother.
When we talk,
I feel understood.
You know what I mean?
I can only hope that you
feel the same way.
I'm invisible.
Can you see me?
Do you want me to see you?
Do you want to see me?
We have so many questions.
But what's the point
of a question
when the circumstances from
which it issued have
changed by the time an answer
can begin to be formulated?
What's the point of an answer
when the answer can
only relate to the point from
which the question was asked...
And that point is gone as time
keeps moving on?
We have so many questions,
but by the time we
learn the why,
the what has changed. And by
the time we know the what,
the why has faded into a dream.
Are questions the result of
the invention of language?
Or is language an extension
of our need
to have our questions answered?
If we didn't have language,
would we have questions?
If we didn't have language,
would you love me?
If we didn't have questions,
would it matter?
When I held you for the first
time, I felt a great wheel of
energy moving through us. Like
we were a link complete
in the chain
that binds the
universe together.
I forgot who I was,
who I am,
and I felt that if I died then,
I could die happy.
Knowing that I felt that
once in my life.
Is that how it felt to you?
It felt nice.
Yeah,
it felt nice.
DeRay?
Come give your mother a kiss,
DeRay.
Come give your mother a
good night kiss.
DeRay?
DeRay?
You alright, Ma?
Where is your father?
Did you have enough to eat?
Where's your brother?
Did the doctors drop by this
morning?
Are we going upstate?
Did you take your medication
before lunch?
Is it still raining outside?
Jesus Christ...
I'm going to change these sheets
if the nurse doesn't come
before dinner.
Louise called.
Laura's wife gave him
another baby boy.
Are your dresses still
in the closet?
I left the bowls by the sink.
I'm going to make a
second set of keys,
so I don't have to bother Mr.
Jackson every time I come over.
I've been researching James,
the brother of Jesus,
for my project.
Did you know,
that Jesus had a brother
who was almost as
enlightened as he was himself?
I paid the water bill
and paid all the bills
back up 'til January.
Did you find my camera?
I had an entire roll on it.
Flowers from the
Botanical Garden.
Sarah saw the last series that I
did, and she said that she would
show it to a gallerist in Soho
who specializes in
photos and prints.
I'm setting the alarm for 7:30.
Does Aaron still work
at the store?
I got to catch the train, Ma.
The train runs every
40 minutes on Sunday...
Why are you alone?
I saw her once again after
I killed him.
Once again,
for the very first time.
I know it was her,
but I don't know if it was the
first time that she saw me.
I think she's been
watching me
since before I was born.
I think she'll be watching me
long after I die.
She's never gonna stop
watching me.
But there's one thing
that I don't understand.
Is she here to absolve me
or to convict me?
This is my room.
I mean, it's the room
I grew up in.
Our normal phraseology has
influenced me to describe it
thus, as my room.
So I grew up thinking I own it.
When really it owns me.
I mean, aren't we all owned by
the rooms we grew up in?
It's a prison cell,
and we carry it with us for the
rest of our lives.
We yearn for freedom and
travel far and wide to escape
it, but we never leave it.
And everyone we meet,
any time,
any place;
we bring them right in that
room with us.
I feel safe here.
That's enough,
isn't it?
In an often maligned
episode of my favorite
television show,
a man from our universe runs
into his counterpart
from a parallel universe
and goes mad.
He swears to destroy his
double's universe,
but is thwarted when he's
trapped by his noble,
self-sacrificing counterpart
in an interdimensional corridor
where they'll be
imprisoned forever,
locked in violent
combat for eternity.
It's commonly considered one of
the series worst episodes.
So, you know we're talking
one hell of a show.
Are you looking for punishment
or absolution? If it's
punishment you want,
what do you think the sentence
is going to be?
This time, I can't see her
anywhere. I know she's
watching me, but
I don't see her anywhere.
I know she's watching me,
but for once
I'm alone.
Once in a blessed while I am
alone.
Yo, those Billy Lo niggas
is trash, B.
Straight booty, bro.
I'm alone.
They about to get clapped OD.
Yo, you know we got your back
right, D?
-Yeah, yeah no problem...
I'm alone.
Layton Street crew on the block,
nigga, the fuck is you
talkin' bout?
Yo, Peewee,
I heard you been throwing my
name out there talking
some wild craziness.
Peewee?
My name ain't no Peewee, nigga.
I'm alone.
You know my
fucking name.
I don't know your name, Mini me.
Why the fuck should I know
what name they
hung on your diminutive ass?
Cause every old gunslinger
should know the name of a
young gunslinger that's gonna
boot hill his ass.
I'm fucking alone.
Name's Billy Lo.
And I ain't gonna tell you
to forget it, neither.
Cause it's the last thing you're
gonna hear, nigga.
Oh, you gonna bury us?
Six feet under,
like Han after they pulled his
ass off the spear
sticking out the mirror, nigga.
You have disgraced my family
and you have disgraced
a Shaolin Temple.
You ought to know Han don't
battle till you go through the
henchmen, son.
Kill.
Yeah, let's go!
That's it, that's all you got?
Fuck that shit.
He built this temple,
brick by brick, day after day,
tock after tick, time ticking
away. He built this temple.
Wait.
You thought you'd
take the throne?
Thought you could box the golden
child with petty flesh and bone.
Thought you'd seize the kingdom
and call it your own.
Thought you could move in, shit,
well, guess who's home?
He built this temple.
Pray on prayer, spirit on fire,
truth teller against
the liar, shattered
every empire.
And y'all thought he was gone?
Thought he could be replaced?
I'm saying he was up there
in the far reaches of space.
He's on the final frontier in
search of greatness,
stars in his palms, heart
racing, handcrafted destiny,
God of his own creation.
You confused? This dude is Zeus
with lightning tucked
in his hands. Damn.
Yeah, trick.
You might have heard that
somebody probably said this,
but let me lay it out for you
like it's forensic evidence.
See, it's evident.
The kid went off the grid to
sit; 40 days and 40 nights.
He's so passionate.
Went insane, found his brains
and now regained his confidence.
Now he's being what we need, not
what we want,
with his sixth sense.
And y'all just a bunch of
crooks and thieves. Please.
He's seen things you ignorant
people wouldn't believe.
Harnessed his emotions and
glided through torment.
He built a house of worship
while y'all were building
warships.
You might go blind from
such a sight.
Look to the right, bro,
he's the light.
Impassively you can
seem him at night,
but please think twice cause,
Jesus Christ,
you ever seen a
deity fight, man?
I tell you it's nothing
nice, right.
But if you don't like your life,
out of a soul full of spite,
please just step into the light,
he'll send you to the afterlife.
Now bow your heads for
kiss goodnight.
I built the temple.
I am the temple.
And I'm alone.
You're alone.
I'm alone.
Can you see me?
Yeah,
I can see you.
Why?
Why?
Why are you the one that
can see me?
Do you want me to see you?
It seems that's the pertinent
question here,
and you're the only one
with the answer.
So.
Tell me, Naima.
Do you want me to see you?
Sure.
But you'll have to buy a ticket
like everybody else in here.
You want to get into this room,
you have to pay the price
of admission.
But you'll also have to
find yourself a seat.
Because I play to a sold out
house every night.
Only problem is
You're all invisible too.
I saw you for the first time
after I killed him.
Are you going to absolve me
or condemn me?
How can I do either when I don't
know where you are or who you
are?
I built the temple.
I am the temple.
Come find me.
I'm scared.
Why?
You shouldn't be here.
You shouldn't be here.
I'm safe here.
That's a lie.
I have love here.
You have love,
but it didn't keep you safe.
I'm safe in this love.
No matter what happens
in this love, I'm safe.
Come find me.
I'm safe in this love.
You're not safe.
You're trapped. You're trapped
by a love that can't even begin
to protect you.
And yours can?
Come find me.
So I can judge you?
Yeah.
Why me?
Because,
you're the one
who saw me.
I have love here.
Kill it.
Are you ready for
bed, sweetheart? Yeah? Ready?
Come on, big man.
Come on. Let's go to bed.
Come on, let's go...
Once again,
for the very first time.
Yo, bro. Who's that?
Over there?
Yeah.
It's Naima.
She used to go out with Marco.
Go out or stay in?
Look, D.
As I spied a particular look in
your eyes,
I settled upon a
delicate turn of phrase.
Whatever the case may be,
whatever they did before they
started going out,
that's they business.
And I wasn't there to bear
witness to it. So...
Yo,
you know a nigga in trouble when
he's already jealous before
even talking to the woman.
She fucking with anybody now?
Nigga, how am I supposed to know
that kind of information?
Nigga, you knew she was fucking
with Marco.
That's because Marco's my dog,
D, so I know who he's
going out with.
I don't keep up with the
movements of his discards.
From here on out
you got to do your
reconnaissance, my boy.
Why he end it, though?
Seek and ye shall find.
Pull back the curtains, all
should be revealed. Promise.
Man, I pulled back many a
curtain. The only thing that was
left was yet another mystery.
Is the nature of the revelation
important? Or is the meaning in
the quest itself?
You can ask or don't ask.
Go or don't go.
You can shoot your shot or keep
it in the holster, nigga,
there will be truth in whichever
course of action you choose to
pursue. So, what do you want to
happen?
Yeah. I'm gonna go
introduce myself.
Do I know you?
I'm a friend... of a friend.
Marco.
Who?
Marco.
Who?
Oh, it's like that?
I don't care about your friends
or your friends of friends.
Who are you?
You know who I am.
Everyone in here knows who I am.
I don't.
Starletta, does she know
who I am?
She knows.
Anything I knew was meaningless,
now that you're here.
Now that you're here,
the only thing that matters is
who are you in relation to me?
I thought you'd never ask.
They go suckin', fuckin',
orgasm, vagasm, shivering,
cummin', touchin', kissin'.
In the rain. In the sun.
Upstairs. Downstairs. In the
car, bedroom, sittin' room.
Boom, boom. I'm coming. I'm
coming,
I'm coming. I'm coming.
I'm coming. I'm coming. I'm
coming.
I'm coming. Spooning.
Missionary.
Doggy style. Cowgirl.
Climb on top. Or should I
come on top?
Sloppy top. Don't stop. I'm
coming! (Are you coming?)
I am coming.
(Are you coming?)
I am coming.
(Are you coming?)
I am coming.
(Are you coming?)
I am coming.
(Are you coming?)
I am coming.
(Are you coming?)
I am coming. I am coming.
When I push it in. All in my
thing, hard thing.
Oh, yeah. Oh, she said,
ow! Ow! Ay, yeah! Oh!
I've seen you before.
We never met.
We've met. You've been watching
me my whole life.
Why would I do that?
So that you can judge me.
Judge you for what?
I'mma go now.
You just got here.
I'm not ready for this.
Then why did you come over?
So I could put something down
that I could build on later?
You try to come back and put
something down,
you're going to be building
something by yourself.
I'm not ready.
Ready for what?
I'm not ready to die.
Why would you die?
Because you're going to kill me.
That's crazy.
That's why you're here,
isn't it?
To kill you?
Yeah.
Why on earth would I want
to kill you?
Because I'm guilty.
Guilty of what?
Everything.
Tell you what.
Where I live is no secret.
You come over,
when you're ready.
I'll let you in.
You won't let me in.
Tell you what.
Let yourself in.
Naima.
Naima...
Yeah.
I was saddened to hear about
your family. It was a terrible
tragedy.
Yeah.
Come down here. Allow me to
comfort you.
I'm okay.
No one can go it alone, Naima.
Especially not you.
Come down here.
You were leaving anyway, weren't
you?
I'm invisible.
You can't see me.
A mirror free of glass, a spirit
free at last, a voice
raised high in prayer,
dropped low in mourning.
A feeling meant to pass.
A mood that's always blue.
An all-seeing eye blinded by the
sun rising in the morning.
A ceiling meant to be broken.
A curse that's always you.
You taught me a game that
I'd rather not play.
Me running,
you tagging.
Me hiding, you dragging me away.
There's no love in the love that
you proclaim every day.
No grace on my knees to receive
when I pray.
Now you can search for me every
highway or byway
I'll be far beyond reach.
You got nothing left to teach,
if you ever did.
Nothing worth knowing.
Nothing that's not better off
hid, in fact; You're invisible.
No one can see you either.
Fade into the ether, memory
shards stuck in my mind
like glass, deep cut on a wound
that will never heal, bad luck
on a run that'll never pass.
Keep that shard in my
womb like a seal.
Pull it out I might
bleed to death.
So I live with my pain,
breath after breath, 'cause
living is better than dying.
Guess I'll know soon enough
without even trying.
So, I let it go.
Learn the truth of that truth,
or the truth of the lie,
I'll reap what I sew.
I love what I hate, I hate
what I love.
Right feels like wrong, wrong
feels like right.
It's Heaven below and Hell up
above, I'll never escape you.
But you will never catch me.
So I guess it's all right.
I guess it's all right.
Eve in Eve's garden.
What you call Paradise is prison
to me.
Cut me loose from Adam's rib and
watch me harden.
Because as a child, you knew I
was a child,
I was broken as a child, I
couldn't speak as a child.
But as a man, you took away my
childish things.
So you look in the mirror,
darkly, and now face to face.
And now you should know yourself
as you should always been known.
But me? I am a woman.
Watch me soar on lyrical wing.
It may be broken.
It may be fragile. But it bears
me aloft and keeps me agile.
I am here.
Somewhere between time and space
my mind is clear
and my heart is keeping pace.
Like the ticking of a clock.
Tick tock. Tick tock.
Despised by God.
Despiser of all things great.
I hate what I love.
And I love what I hate.
You all right?
Guess you're not
invisible anymore.
This is a moment.
This is a moment in time.
While it lasts,
it's forever.
Then it's gone.
This is a moment in time.
While it lasts, it's forever.
While it lasts...
I don't want you in my house!
DeRay, get the fuck out!
It's forever.
In the beginning.
In the beginning.
In the beginning...
I was safe.
You felt safe.
In the beginning, I felt safe.
In the beginning, with your arms
around me, I knew I
could take on this world.
I woke up in my room.
It's in a hotel on a
planet in a galaxy many millions
of light years away from Earth.
I was late.
The last flight back to Earth,
ever,
was leaving shortly, and if I
missed it,
I would be left on this planet
forever.
Which might be all right,
because love is here on this
planet.
I knew that if I returned to
Earth,
I would live a normal long life,
and that if I stayed here
on this planet with love on it,
my life would be
indescribably brief.
I was rushing to make the flight
on time when I realized I
forgot something very important
back in my room.
I missed the flight.
Her name is Naima.
I changed it to Anne in
my mind because I didn't want
everything in my life to
be about Naima.
I was going to stay here for the
rest of what I knew is
going to be a very short life.
So I followed her up
towards the crest of the
mountain that overlooked
my new home.
Am I the only one who saw the
entire surface of this planet
was made of bones?
It wasn't very frightening,
but it was a hell of a thing.
And then it hit me.
My mother was never going to see
me again.
She was going to think I
died somewhere far
away in space.
I never made it to the top of
that mountain.
And life is still so short.
I guess that's what
happens when you love.
For a lifetime,
for an hour,
for a minute.
When you find love,
life is incredibly short.
I've been looking at you your
entire life. But I never seen
you before.
Until now.
I found comfort in your arms for
the first time.
I found my voice in the
darkness.
I found comfort in your arms.
This voice is my own,
and it was fashioned
in the darkness.
You gave me comfort. But this
voice is mine.
These men scream and fight back.
It's easy. So quit looking for
your spot here. It's like you're
not here, I won this battle
before you got here.
I just smacked him.
What's up Shorty,
what you want?
Can you see me?
Yeah, bitch, I see you.
Tell you what, you
look good, too.
Why don't you come see
me after I battle?
Let you mop these floors?
I ain't here to mop no floors.
I'm here to clean your clock.
Shit, okay. Period.
Disrespectful. You know,
I don't know who the fuck
you think you are.
This is my sho-
Chill, chill bro. It's Naima.
She stay up in Co-op City.
Think she hot shit cause she
write a little poetry.
Ah, poetry.
So, you spitting that wack shit?
So you think you
could battle me?
I don't care if I battle you.
I'm here to battle the world,
and you're just a benchwarmer
standing in my way.
Put me in coach,
take her out.
So move aside,
I'll spare your life.
Stand fast,
Imma run right through you.
Choice is yours.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Make your move, homey.
Do what you do.
All right.
Okay, here we go.
It looks like my patience
is being tried.
Y'all know last nigga that tried
it, straight up and died.
Natural time had nothing to do
with it.
Just sharpened up my flow and
stuck his heart through with it.
I'ma tell y'all about some
shit that occurred.
Only because it's finna
happen twice.
You should have took
me for my word,
'cause now your ass is on ice.
The pick in your neck
like a Sicilian hit...
"But she's such a
sweet little girl"
man, you know I ain't
giving a shit.
Popping off your mouth like the
proud owner of a dick. Man,
you making me sick.
The work split like your tits.
Hocus pocus.
I'll whip a pot like a witch.
Who is this?
I'll treat you like your
mom's in this bitch.
I still take your ass to school,
so stop acting like you sick.
You know what I think?
You could take it way better
than you could give.
I'll tell you what, you let me
fuck later and I'mma let your
ass live, cause this ain't no
fair case, bare face so they
know it's me.
She should have stayed home if
she was goin' to recite poetry.
I mean, you know, for me,
it's best to keep extra lead.
Thought this was a game, and now
her bitch ass is left for dead.
You can rap now.
I might be slow.
Did that sound like a threat?
I don't know.
It was as weak as weak gets. I'd
say it was weak as water,
but water's got flow.
Yo shit drier than a tired old
pussy on a tired old ho.
Took on so many Johns she
can't feel it no more.
Can't even get up and show them
the door. Nah. So tired,
your dick ride is exhausted;
they wheel fell off.
These niggas can't back
you in a battle
their hands too soft.
Look at you and
your best friend.
I knew he'd come and
support you alone.
Hold up,
y'all niggas too close.
Y'all bitches wear
the same cologne.
You say,
I act like I own a dick.
While you wave yours in my face.
Might have impressed me if it
wasn't smaller than a needle out
in deep space.
Face. I know you want to save
the fool one you got.
Shot, buried without a case.
Race to escape
being taken down by this
thug. Disparage me?
I can disparage myself.
How great can I be when
my competition's so shitty.
Wait. Why am I even
talking to this nigga?
He'll never make four figures,
never have an action figure.
Can't even find his father
figure. Wait.
Let's look out in the crowd. He
might be here right now. Psych!
I'm the only one that came
looking for you, I'm
your daddy now.
Sounds like a round two to me.
That sound like
a round two to me.
Fuck you mean a round two?
I just beat her.
Do you forfeit?
- You know I don't forfeit.
- You see me-
You either gonna step
in the ring or you gonna
forfeit. It's one or the other.
Alright, fuck it.
You see this
equal opportunity shit?
Sad to me.
I mean, you going through
torture, your ass already been
had by me. This is A.I.
Layup line. Easy cake,
all your shots be off.
Bitch, I'll make you pay bottom
dollar to top me off.
Y'all all watch.
You know I ain't shy.
Might go Dodo for that Dodo, you
know I can't fly. But really,
I don't know why they lie.
Cause I'm trying to see it y'all
way, but at this point, it's
blas, blas. Cause y'all say
say she's my way, and I say nah.
You see, this is why,
you should throw in your towel,
cause I just ate all I
could eat.
This is Golden Corral, and nah,
I ain't holding you down. I'm
just holding you down
until you stop twitching,
like you not different, so stop
bitching. You see, y'all bitches
how every woman is a god
and how y'all must
all be queens. I mean,
it's only right you get
swept by this king.
Leave you crying when I take
a knee and let this bitch ring.
I mean, is y'all niggas not
entertained?
I mean she got to be insane,
what the fuck is going
through her brain?
Thought she had the sauce 'til I
turn her to a stain.
Let me chill though. I'm a
let you enjoy your five
minutes of fame.
Should have never tried to
force it, now you're going down
that drain. It's a shame.
You can rap.
Well, since y'all keep
bringing that shit up,
how about some poetry?
We ready, we ready, we ready!
I'm not a queen like the rest.
More like the goddess of death.
I've been praying in darkness
to darkness's prince. And you
don't know it
but this soul was forged in a
fiery abyss far below this.
So I've been waiting for this
goddamn moment,
every goddamn moment since.
You think you hard.
Think you tough.
Think you got edge.
Well, now you face to face
with a face that's never
seen the ledge.
I pushed niggas off
them, though.
But I don't even rob 'em.
Just feed 'em to my demons.
Call them Gomorrah and Sodom. I
burn through these cities
the way I spit fire inside 'em.
You was right. This equal
opportunity shit?
It's not a fair fight.
What's the use?
This, you can never hit.
I can't even call it abuse. You
can't beat this bitch. That's
what you keep calling me, right?
A bitch? Well, bitch get spayed.
You the only one here
that's bitch made.
You demean the dreams of
goddesses and queens,
but this king lives in a hovel
in Jamaica, Queens.
Jamaica, what they call it,
but you got a leaky ass tub
and no ocean, no sun.
You can't get clean
like mother, like son.
Man, in yo, shit, you step
on a crack, you break
your mama's back. Well,
sprinkle some crack and get
your mama back.
Now, I didn't need to battle you
for you to commit suicide
with your verse.
Somebody call the parlor, let's
get a hearse. I'll pick up the
tab. I know you can't afford it.
Just keep doing what you're
doing, and soon you'll board it.
Now bye player,
I'll pray for your soul. You're
just another goofy ass fool that
got between me and my goal.
Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa
whoa whoa whoa whoa.
It's getting too personal in
here right now.
Let's make some noise and see
who won. For this side.
For this side, here.
Bye, player!
Bye, player!
Get the hell out of my way! I
grind up suckers like you
every goddamn day!
Bye, player.
You're welcome to stay.
But from here on out, we're
doing things my way.
Bye, player.
We doing things my way.
Bye, player.
You're welcome to stay.
Bye, player.
Doing things my way.
Bye, player.
Doing things my way.
Bye, player.
Doing things my way.
Bye, player.
This was a moment.
While it lasted,
it lasted forever.
This was a moment.
This was a moment.
This was a moment.
Come on.
Come on, get off.
Get off...
I'm alone.
But she's watching me.
She's been watching me
since before I was born.
That's DeRay Solomon...
I thought you
were dead.
Yeah, not for long, bro.
Yeah, alright.
Hey, yo, DeRay!
You don't fuck with
us no more, brother?
Nah, it ain't even
like that, man.
Now, this motherfucker too
good to fuck with us.
It ain't even like that. Yo,
what up, Zeke, man?
So, where you at, D?
Yo, I'm here nigga.
No.
Where you been at?
You know, bruh.
You don't battle no more.
Nah, I battle. I battle.
Yo. Who's this ghost-eyes
nigga, man?
This is DeRay Solomon, nigga.
Yeah. All right,
all right, this is true.
Now, this the motherfucker
that built the temple.
All right,
show some respect.
I used to go there, man.
Where you been at?
Yo. He don't battle no more.
I battle. I just took out Billy
Lo and his crew over in
Coney Island the other day.
That nigga wack as fuck, man.
Nah, he got skills.
You the motherfucker
that built the temple and you
battling Billy Lo?
Nobody gonna give a fuck
about that.
I mean, he got a ways to go,
but he got skills.
Look, if you really want to
battle.
You got to go up
to the Heights, D.
Alright? That's where Sky
Captain, Lunatic Moon,
Son of Satan, the Remix
Brothers, that's where they at.
I don't battle there.
- Why not?
Cuz I done it and it's bullshit.
Nah, that nigga just scared.
Man, that nigga too old.
Motherfucker that
built the temple...
Yo, fuck the temple.
I go where I want to go.
You know what I'm saying?
Well you should man,
that temple old as fuck. Better
to build your own-
I ain't gotta build shit
either, you feel me?
Yo, matter of fact, let
me see something.
You built the temple,
show us a prayer.
I would, but she's
watching me.
Who's watching you?
Yo, I be seeing you, Zeke.
Hey, only real battles
up in the Heights.
If you want a battle, that's
where you got to go.
Yeah. All right.
Yo, man, that nigga weird
as fuck, man.
Fuck the temple.
Fuck the battle.
Fuck the praying.
Fuck the loving. Fuck the
hating. Fuck the fears.
Fuck the pain. Fuck the tears.
Fuck the moment. Fuck the years.
Fuck the struggle. Fuck the
sweat. Fuck the stone we squeeze
for every drop of blood
that we get.
Fuck sunrise and fuck sunset.
Fuck the grind.
Fuck the fucking dagger lodged
deep inside my mind.
Fuck the monster.
Fuck the beast.
Fuck the faces of kindness they
hide behind and the innocence
on which they feast. Fuck me.
Fuck you. Fuck your mother.
Fuck your grandmother
too. Fuck your shoe.
Fuck every chore
and fuck every act of mercy
I feel inclined to do.
Fuck my faith.
Fuck my doubt.
Fuck beauty within.
Fuck beauty without.
Fuck being empty.
Fuck being whole.
Fuck the body.
Fuck the spirit.
Fuck the mind.
Fuck the soul.
Fuck in front of and behind.
Fuck it. Fuck everything.
Fuck it all. Fuck man before
and after the fall.
Fuck living. Fuck trying. Fuck
acceptance. Fuck dying.
Fuck the pose.
Fuck attitude.
Fuck resentment.
Fuck gratitude.
Fuck the earth. Fuck the sky.
Fuck the answer. Fuck the why.
Fuck going. Fuck coming.
Fuck being. Fuck becoming.
Fuck being alone.
Fuck being with you.
Fuck lies. Fuck sighs.
Fuck false and fuck true.
Fuck revelations and fuck
machinations.
Fuck dreams and
fuck meditations.
The longer I live,
the less I know.
Fuck it. Let it go.
Let it go.
Let it go.
I bring my room with me
everywhere I go.
But everything is new all
the time, isn't it?
Even my room.
Just cause you let someone in
doesn't mean they have to be
able to see or touch everything.
Does it?
Does it?
Come in.
Can we talk out here?
I thought we were staying in.
I don't want to go in there.
I don't understand.
I'm not ready to die.
What are you talking about?
I don't deserve to live,
I know that,
but I'm not ready to die yet.
I'm sorry.
Don't do this.
I'm gonna go now.
I feel safe with you.
You feel comfort.
That's what you told me.
There's a difference.
You told me to come
and find you.
I found you.
You told me to kill everything
that gave me comfort.
And I did that.
I killed it for you.
Not everything.
Help me.
I don't know how.
Please stay.
Bye, Naima.
You did right.
Who the fuck are you?
You know who I am.
What do you want?
Just to thank you.
For what?
Doing the right thing.
I don't know that it was.
It was. For me anyway.
Come down and
I'll thank you personally.
You think you can simply
walk back in there after
what you just did to her?
I'm not going back there.
No,
you're not going there and
you're not coming here.
What exactly is it you think
you're going to do?
DeRay. Is that you?
Come give your mother
a good night kiss.
You all right?
Did your brother
finish his dinner?
Where's Dad?
Did you brush your teeth?
I put all my books and records
away and cleaned the closet.
I haven't read your report card
yet. I figured I'd wait till
morning for that excitement.
There's fire trucks
on the block.
I thought it was for a fire,
but I think it's just for
someone who's sick.
If the dishes are over the
middle line in the sink, that
means they need to be washed.
I have a rip in my black jeans
on the knee part.
Miss Davis called. She said she
wanted to know if Tammy and
Shawn walked home with you.
I lended Tyreek my notebook
so he can copy down
the homework questions.
It's not due until Thursday,
so, I'll be done way in time.
I haven't finished my
research on Alvin,
so I'll
be up for a while.
Maizie won the dance off. She
was really good.
You get half an hour of TV,
then it's lights out.
Dale's mom made
chocolate chip cookies,
and he gave them to everyone in
our class except me and Jojo.
What's that on your hand?
Did you hurt yourself?
Where's Dad?
Do you want to sleep in here
with me tonight?
Fuck.
In my favorite book when
I was a boy, the hero,
don't laugh, is in his present
incarnation,
a southern gentleman
and former soldier of the
Confederate Army.
He's a man who can't remember
ever being anything other than
30 years old,
or a time in history when he
wasn't a warrior.
Some years after the end of the
Civil War, tormented by
idleness, he goes
prospecting for gold in the
Arizona Hills,
where he runs afoul of
some Apache braves who shoot him
dead with arrows.
Only thing is,
he doesn't really die.
He can't die. Not just yet.
Because he has
unfinished business.
He steps outside of his
own corpse and sees it
lying there at his feet.
Then he feels an incredible
energetic pull from above,
and he looks up to see
the night sky spread out
like a mantle overhead.
And at its heart,
the planet Mars,
cradle of all war and
blood and battle,
pulsing red and beckoning him.
He reaches his arms upward
and feels his spirit being shot
through space like a
stone from a sling.
And when he awakens,
naked as a newborn babe,
still a man of 30, he knows he
has come home at last to
his one true home.
Oh, and one more thing.
His sojourn on this strange
planet Earth and its heavier
gravity has strengthened his
muscles. So when
he leaps,
he spans a league.
And when he strikes, he's
stronger than any
ten martians put together. You
see, when he left home, he
left a man. But when he came
back, he came back a superman.
Back it up, back it up,
back it up! Woohoo!
There are battles below.
And there are battles
in the heavens.
Yeah!
You in the heights now,
motherfuckers!
Hey!
Immortals never die.
Yeah!
But they can
sure taste defeat.
You know what I'm saying?
Sky Captain.
Defeat's worse than
death, but I don't plan on
tasting either one.
I know, that's right. Yeah.
All right.
The gods create, but people
decide their fate.
Damn, that's the paradox
of life right there.
Well, well, well, look who came
to the Heights. What's up boy?
Oh! Hey, yo. Get
him the fuck out of here! Yo!
Chill, chill, chill,
chill, chill.
This is where the gods battle.
Yo, DeRay built the temple.
That's cool.
You can get on your knees
and pray with all that shit.
But you ain't battling here
today, nah.
I battled here before.
You must've forgot.
Maybe you did.
Did you win?
- It was inconclusive.
- Nah!
Wait wait wait.
Whoa. Peace, peace. Peace,
though. Hold up, hold up I know,
I know, I'm saying, but hold up,
hold up. I'm saying it's been a
minute. Yo, man,
what's really going on?
Where you been at?
I've been living life, you know,
doing shit that those
living life do.
I feel you, I feel you.
You ready for this, dawg?
Like Abraham, when he took a
hammer to the false prophets,
leaving them broken in the dust.
Yeah, but you know
the rules, my brother.
You fall short here today, you
ain't never coming back here
again. Know what I'm saying?
Yeah, yeah, yeah I know.
Do your thing.
Oh...
Let's go!
That's enough... That's enough,
that's enough!
The gods create,
but people decide their fate.
Remix Brothers laid
down the fucking law!
Let the defeated kneel
before them in awe.
Defeated? Wait wait wait
wait, wait. Run that back.
Run that back, brother! See,
before you utter some dumb
shit like that. Let me
ask you a question.
Oh.
Hey. Yo, Chuck, ask
him the question.
Kick it.
Superman kneels before Zod and
his brother,
just like a man kneels before
his god and any other.
Seems to you like things are the
way they're supposed to be.
It ain't really looking that way
to me, see.
Now y'all got us bent backwards
like the backs of gymnastics,
that's wrong.
When all along we fought against
gods to put y'all on
in sparring matches with devils
for training practice,
we resurrect the dead and split
the Dead Sea with our magic.
It's deeper than what you
believe in, it's our way of
coping and grieving and growing
and dreaming and focus for
reason when hope gets us even.
This globe is the season where
folks get to leave and turn cold
as a coat in the breeze
when there's snow on
the leaves, it's treason.
So Imma wrap up this verse to
challenge his wisdom
and pray he saves you before you
crucify it with criticism.
I ask
what came first the egg or
the bird? Which gives birth, the
idea or the word?
What's more important, the
sooner or the later?
Which is more potent? Creation
or its creator?
The way I see it...
Once the work is done and the
maker is gone
and his work lives on,
in his name, I ask you.
Who deserves more fame,
the getter or the giver?
Who is the richer?
The singer of the song
or its receiver?
Who's more blessed?
The deity or the believer?
Y'all, he built this
goddamn temple,
every move he makes
opens a brand new door.
You have the guts,
you'll follow him through it.
You gotta let go of what was
and follow us to glory.
Even the gods lack the courage
to do it. You gotta be a man to
tell a man's story. Yeah.
He built this temple
to show you the path
and the way. That is
creation creating its own
creator, creating a new God
each time that you pray.
He built this temple.
You built this temple.
I guess it's your right to knock
it down if you want to.
But what you're doing up in here
ain't where we at. You feel me?
Don't come here again. We out.
Shit, It's how we do.
It is now.
I'm gonna break north
for a minute, bro.
Alright, man. Peace to
the God, bro.
Peace to the God.
Stay up man.
- Alright bro.
How you doing, son?
I'm alright.
Come sit up here next to me.
You know, Mom's been
asking about you.
She knows where to find me, if
she wants me.
Well, she's asking anyway.
That was beautiful what
you just showed them.
Something that was always there
but has never been seen before.
It's nothing like what
you used to do.
No need for comparison.
I'm proud of you.
Thank you.
I know what you did that day.
Your mother can't help you with
this, you know? She means well,
but she can only make it worse.
What can be worse than having
done it in the first place?
It's nothing I haven't
done myself before.
One time,
a hundred times,
a thousand times.
What does it matter?
I just can't let
it go like that.
No need to let it go.
Then what the fuck am
I supposed to do?
You're a man. Live with it.
"Somewhere"
by Naima Davis.
I'm saying this because I saw a
movie and heard a song
called that in it.
Can I tell it just to you later?
And you can give me
my grade then?
You're in a classroom with
other children, Naima.
The purpose of this assignment
is to share your poetry
with others.
The song says there's a place
for us somewhere.
I'm just looking for
a place for me.
A place for us two is a place
I don't really want to be.
There's things I want in this
place. I made a list.
This part doesn't really rhyme,
so I guess it's not
really a poem.
Not every poem
needs to rhyme.
I want it to have lots of
sunlight and lots of grass.
I want it to have butterflies,
and I want it to smell like
Aunt Cora's yard when we
visit her for the 4th of July.
I want it to be wide and free
with trees so far so nothing big
could cast a shadow over me.
I guess that rhymes.
Yes it did.
Do you like it better when it
rhymes or when it doesn't?
I want to hear the
way you wrote it.
I didn't write it.
Who did?
No one.
What do you mean?
I mean, I'm just saying
it right now.
That's not exactly
what I had in mind when I
assigned it as homework, Naima.
I'm sorry.
Why don't you ask your
classmates how they would
like to hear it, then?
I guess I'll just say it the
way it comes to me.
All right.
In this summer place, I want
the sun to be shining
always on my face, so
that my own shadow is always
behind me and out of sight.
And all the shadows are
gone. And it's a sun that
feeds me a special light.
So I'm never hungry. And I
never have to look for food.
I'm always in a good mood.
And I'm never tired, so I never
need to close my eyes.
And I don't need sleep.
So I don't need to dream.
Not ever.
You can look but you'll never
find me. Because even though
there are no walls here,
there are also no doors to let
anyone out or in.
Not a single wall or
room or hall.
Most especially, no stairs,
going up or down or
anywhere at all.
It's just me there.
Not my friends,
not my family, and most
especially, not God.
Sounds like a very
special place, Naima.
But why can't your family
be there with you?
Because I killed them.
You killed your family?
Yes.
Why did you kill them?
For love.
And God?
God is everywhere, you know.
There's no place
you can imagine or go where
God isn't already there.
Then I guess I'll have to
kill him too.
You kill me and you
kill yourself.
Maybe.
But I met this guy.
He built the temple.
I even prayed there with him
for a minute or two.
And I don't know if there's
a God or not,
but I know one thing.
You are not him.
And one day
I'm going to kill you.
I guess this is just another
drop of rain in the ocean, huh?
It's the thought that counts.
I let myself in, just
like you said.
You keep it.
It's yours.
I'll knock next time.
You knock, I might not
let you back in.
I guess we'll just have
to wait and see, huh?
Are you going to break my heart?
Are you going to kill me?
I saw you standing out here, so
I figured I'd say something.
Are you all right?
Yeah. Better.
Me too.
I heard.
You say
That you'd stay.
Then why you've been
so far away.
Since I fought for you.
But you
Fought me too.
Every heart and
Every soul burns.
But we'll still
have those dreams.
And if this instinct.
Is all we're given.
Right now, is all I need.
So I fought for you.
But you...
I have a special
place just for me.
You're the only person
I let in there,
even for a minute.
Can we go back there?
There's something
I have to do first.
I'm probably not
going to be back.
Are you going to wait here?
Nah.
Well, I guess you're
going to live, then.
Yeah.
All right.
I built the temple for you.
And I tore it down for her.
Now, I'm going to build
something new...
For me.
Once again.
For the very first time.
Living my life
The God in me.
Is the God in you.
In this moment of creation.
See it all come true.
This euphoria is far above
a simple pleasure.
See in the world of
of sensation.
Love's the only treasure.
Living legend. Yeah.
Legend alive.
Legendary baby,
I'm just living my life.
Living legend? Yeah.
Legend alive. Legendary.
Baby, I'm just living my life.
Yeah, yeah yeah yeah. Yeah
yeah yeah yeah.
Living legend. Yeah.
Legend alive. Yeah.
Let's dance baby.
I'm just living my life.
Living legend. Yeah.
Legend alive. Yeah.
Legendary baby, I'm just
living my life.
I done seen it all. Can't
believe I'm alive.
Shooting for the stars.
See me up in the sky.
Jumped out the nest.
Had to learn how to fly.
Now I'm caught up in the life.
Only a few can survive.
I ain't tryin to preach a
whole sermon.
When I'm speaking I been
dreaming out of desperation
Missed a couple pieces to the
puzzle I've been seeking
everything that I lacked, I
saw it on my neck
Have a cross on my back.
Trying to ascend. Putting work
in 30 days, 30 nights.
Hands been dirty
Yeah, I give my all every
time.
Every day is all the time.
Walking on a tightrope.
Crazy
I'm borderline.
Living legend. Yeah.
Legend alive. Yeah.
Let's dance baby.
I'm just living my life.
Once again. Once again,
once again, once again.
Living legend. Yeah.
Legend alive. Yeah.
Let's dance baby.
I'm just living my life.
I done seen it all. Can't
believe I'm alive now.
Shooting for the stars.
See me up in the sky.
I jumped out the nest.
I had to learn how to fly.
Now I'm caught up in the life
only a few could survive.
I sing it from my soul.
Put my life in a rhyme.
Coming once again.
For the very first time.
Coming once again.
For the very first time.
Coming once again.
For the very first time.
Coming once again.
For the very first time.
Coming once again
For the very first time.
I built the temple.
Now it's gone.
That's just the way it is.
So why can't I move on?
I know the nature of life
is constant change
and so is the individual
experience within it.
A wave
taking shape for one moment
and then sinking back into
the body of the ocean.
It's a matter of
perspective, too.
I mean,
get close enough to that wave
closer
and closer,
and it loses its shape
and you're inside of it,
and reality becomes something
else entirely.
Fly up high enough
and you lose sight of that wave,
and all you can see is the wide,
flat surface of the ocean.
If you want to see that wave,
experience that wave,
be that wave,
you got to be in the right place
at the right time.
And by right,
mind you,
I'm not attaching any particular
value to being there.
I'm just saying that's
the way it is.
Fate,
creation,
chance.
All you can do is react,
appreciate, embrace
and just be there and try not to
fuck things up too much.
Which generally speaking,
tends to be my contribution
to the moment.
Any moment.
Every moment.
This moment.
Naima?
Oh hi.
You look amazing. Naima?
Just give me a second, okay?
Naima?
Everyone's out here.
Are you planning on staying in
here by yourself forever?
Dear God.
Do you hate me?
What did I do to be cast
out by you?
To be cursed with a life of love
and warmth and touch?
Did I offend you, God?
Did I offend you
that I am sentenced to
a mother's embrace?
Did I offend you that I am
condemned to
a father's compassion?
What did I do to you, God?
Why have you wiped it
from my memory?
Would knowledge of my crime be
too terrible for me to bear?
Did I trespass against you, God?
To be punished with
infinite kindness?
Did I offend you
to have my ears
poisoned with music?
My palate made bitter
with sweetness?
My eyes blinded with beauty?
How did I offend you?
What did I do to deserve the
sting of tenderness
and the misery of acceptance,
free of judgment or condition?
Did I offend you, God?
God?
God?
I saw her for the first time
right after I killed him.
Crazy bro.
Is he very old
or does he have the
face of a child?
Is he innocent?
Or is he guilty?
Am I innocent?
Or am I guilty?
Did I know better then?
Or do I know better now?
Am I alone or am I with others?
Are there others?
Am I touching them?
Are they touching me?
Does it matter who I touch
or who touches me?
Am I touching anyone?
Are there many
or is there just one?
Is life for the living?
In death all's forgiven.
I feel something.
Rather feel
nothing at all.
Is life for the living?
Is death all forgiving?
Pain that I've hidden.
But is that really living?
Oh.
Rather feel nothing
at all.
Don't want to
feel something.
Is life for the living?
In death all's forgiven.
I feel something,
I feel something,
I feel something.
I feel.
I feel...
- Why is he touching me?
- He's afraid.
Of what?
Of everything.
Of nothing. Of no one.
Of everyone.
Is he afraid of me?
If I open this door,
where will I be?
Where do you want to go?
Back.
Again?
There's no such thing as again.
Again is a trick of
the imagination.
Everything is always new.
Then open the door.
I'm going to go back first.
Uh, uh, uh, uh.
There's no going back.
You just said yourself
that everything is new,
which means everything is now.
Yeah, and now
I'm going back.
Going back where?
Here.
Bro, it's the same door.
Yeah,
but I'm different now.
Okay. You're different,
but the door is still the same.
That's a damn lie.
Everything is always changing.
So even if it's the same door,
it's different now too.
The same door's a different door
all the time.
Then open it.
There are other doors.
Are there?
Or are they all the same door.
With a different
illusion waiting behind it for
you each time it's open?
I don't know.
Oh, oh, oh, maybe
every door is the same.
With a different illusion
waiting for you.
I guess there's no way to tell.
Does it matter what's behind the
door? Or is all that matters is
the act
of reaching out and opening it?
I don't have to open this door
or any of them.
I can just stand right here
and wait.
Wait for what?
For someone to come out
and find me.
How long do you plan on
doing that for?
Someone has to come
out eventually.
How you doing?
Right on.
Well.
That was exciting.
Was it everything you
were hoping for?
Who are you looking for?
What are you looking for?
Are you looking for me?
I hope not.
Because I'm invisible.
He thinks he can see me.
He always thinks he
can see me.
Are you him every time?
Or are you different?
Are there more than one of you?
Are you all the same?
What does it matter?
There might be a thousand of
you.
Or you might be the same one in
disguise.
But you can't even see me.
I'm actually kind of nervous to
say it, but
I've never met anyone like you.
You're just so beautiful.
It's like a dream I had that
I never forgot.
I'm invisible.
I don't know, when you talk
I feel like I'm listening to a
song.
I don't even realize what you
said until the music
finished washing over me.
I'm invisible.
Please don't take this the
wrong way, because I know this
is not all about me.
Well, you listen to me better
than anyone else I know.
Better than my own mother.
When we talk,
I feel understood.
You know what I mean?
I can only hope that you
feel the same way.
I'm invisible.
Can you see me?
Do you want me to see you?
Do you want to see me?
We have so many questions.
But what's the point
of a question
when the circumstances from
which it issued have
changed by the time an answer
can begin to be formulated?
What's the point of an answer
when the answer can
only relate to the point from
which the question was asked...
And that point is gone as time
keeps moving on?
We have so many questions,
but by the time we
learn the why,
the what has changed. And by
the time we know the what,
the why has faded into a dream.
Are questions the result of
the invention of language?
Or is language an extension
of our need
to have our questions answered?
If we didn't have language,
would we have questions?
If we didn't have language,
would you love me?
If we didn't have questions,
would it matter?
When I held you for the first
time, I felt a great wheel of
energy moving through us. Like
we were a link complete
in the chain
that binds the
universe together.
I forgot who I was,
who I am,
and I felt that if I died then,
I could die happy.
Knowing that I felt that
once in my life.
Is that how it felt to you?
It felt nice.
Yeah,
it felt nice.
DeRay?
Come give your mother a kiss,
DeRay.
Come give your mother a
good night kiss.
DeRay?
DeRay?
You alright, Ma?
Where is your father?
Did you have enough to eat?
Where's your brother?
Did the doctors drop by this
morning?
Are we going upstate?
Did you take your medication
before lunch?
Is it still raining outside?
Jesus Christ...
I'm going to change these sheets
if the nurse doesn't come
before dinner.
Louise called.
Laura's wife gave him
another baby boy.
Are your dresses still
in the closet?
I left the bowls by the sink.
I'm going to make a
second set of keys,
so I don't have to bother Mr.
Jackson every time I come over.
I've been researching James,
the brother of Jesus,
for my project.
Did you know,
that Jesus had a brother
who was almost as
enlightened as he was himself?
I paid the water bill
and paid all the bills
back up 'til January.
Did you find my camera?
I had an entire roll on it.
Flowers from the
Botanical Garden.
Sarah saw the last series that I
did, and she said that she would
show it to a gallerist in Soho
who specializes in
photos and prints.
I'm setting the alarm for 7:30.
Does Aaron still work
at the store?
I got to catch the train, Ma.
The train runs every
40 minutes on Sunday...
Why are you alone?
I saw her once again after
I killed him.
Once again,
for the very first time.
I know it was her,
but I don't know if it was the
first time that she saw me.
I think she's been
watching me
since before I was born.
I think she'll be watching me
long after I die.
She's never gonna stop
watching me.
But there's one thing
that I don't understand.
Is she here to absolve me
or to convict me?
This is my room.
I mean, it's the room
I grew up in.
Our normal phraseology has
influenced me to describe it
thus, as my room.
So I grew up thinking I own it.
When really it owns me.
I mean, aren't we all owned by
the rooms we grew up in?
It's a prison cell,
and we carry it with us for the
rest of our lives.
We yearn for freedom and
travel far and wide to escape
it, but we never leave it.
And everyone we meet,
any time,
any place;
we bring them right in that
room with us.
I feel safe here.
That's enough,
isn't it?
In an often maligned
episode of my favorite
television show,
a man from our universe runs
into his counterpart
from a parallel universe
and goes mad.
He swears to destroy his
double's universe,
but is thwarted when he's
trapped by his noble,
self-sacrificing counterpart
in an interdimensional corridor
where they'll be
imprisoned forever,
locked in violent
combat for eternity.
It's commonly considered one of
the series worst episodes.
So, you know we're talking
one hell of a show.
Are you looking for punishment
or absolution? If it's
punishment you want,
what do you think the sentence
is going to be?
This time, I can't see her
anywhere. I know she's
watching me, but
I don't see her anywhere.
I know she's watching me,
but for once
I'm alone.
Once in a blessed while I am
alone.
Yo, those Billy Lo niggas
is trash, B.
Straight booty, bro.
I'm alone.
They about to get clapped OD.
Yo, you know we got your back
right, D?
-Yeah, yeah no problem...
I'm alone.
Layton Street crew on the block,
nigga, the fuck is you
talkin' bout?
Yo, Peewee,
I heard you been throwing my
name out there talking
some wild craziness.
Peewee?
My name ain't no Peewee, nigga.
I'm alone.
You know my
fucking name.
I don't know your name, Mini me.
Why the fuck should I know
what name they
hung on your diminutive ass?
Cause every old gunslinger
should know the name of a
young gunslinger that's gonna
boot hill his ass.
I'm fucking alone.
Name's Billy Lo.
And I ain't gonna tell you
to forget it, neither.
Cause it's the last thing you're
gonna hear, nigga.
Oh, you gonna bury us?
Six feet under,
like Han after they pulled his
ass off the spear
sticking out the mirror, nigga.
You have disgraced my family
and you have disgraced
a Shaolin Temple.
You ought to know Han don't
battle till you go through the
henchmen, son.
Kill.
Yeah, let's go!
That's it, that's all you got?
Fuck that shit.
He built this temple,
brick by brick, day after day,
tock after tick, time ticking
away. He built this temple.
Wait.
You thought you'd
take the throne?
Thought you could box the golden
child with petty flesh and bone.
Thought you'd seize the kingdom
and call it your own.
Thought you could move in, shit,
well, guess who's home?
He built this temple.
Pray on prayer, spirit on fire,
truth teller against
the liar, shattered
every empire.
And y'all thought he was gone?
Thought he could be replaced?
I'm saying he was up there
in the far reaches of space.
He's on the final frontier in
search of greatness,
stars in his palms, heart
racing, handcrafted destiny,
God of his own creation.
You confused? This dude is Zeus
with lightning tucked
in his hands. Damn.
Yeah, trick.
You might have heard that
somebody probably said this,
but let me lay it out for you
like it's forensic evidence.
See, it's evident.
The kid went off the grid to
sit; 40 days and 40 nights.
He's so passionate.
Went insane, found his brains
and now regained his confidence.
Now he's being what we need, not
what we want,
with his sixth sense.
And y'all just a bunch of
crooks and thieves. Please.
He's seen things you ignorant
people wouldn't believe.
Harnessed his emotions and
glided through torment.
He built a house of worship
while y'all were building
warships.
You might go blind from
such a sight.
Look to the right, bro,
he's the light.
Impassively you can
seem him at night,
but please think twice cause,
Jesus Christ,
you ever seen a
deity fight, man?
I tell you it's nothing
nice, right.
But if you don't like your life,
out of a soul full of spite,
please just step into the light,
he'll send you to the afterlife.
Now bow your heads for
kiss goodnight.
I built the temple.
I am the temple.
And I'm alone.
You're alone.
I'm alone.
Can you see me?
Yeah,
I can see you.
Why?
Why?
Why are you the one that
can see me?
Do you want me to see you?
It seems that's the pertinent
question here,
and you're the only one
with the answer.
So.
Tell me, Naima.
Do you want me to see you?
Sure.
But you'll have to buy a ticket
like everybody else in here.
You want to get into this room,
you have to pay the price
of admission.
But you'll also have to
find yourself a seat.
Because I play to a sold out
house every night.
Only problem is
You're all invisible too.
I saw you for the first time
after I killed him.
Are you going to absolve me
or condemn me?
How can I do either when I don't
know where you are or who you
are?
I built the temple.
I am the temple.
Come find me.
I'm scared.
Why?
You shouldn't be here.
You shouldn't be here.
I'm safe here.
That's a lie.
I have love here.
You have love,
but it didn't keep you safe.
I'm safe in this love.
No matter what happens
in this love, I'm safe.
Come find me.
I'm safe in this love.
You're not safe.
You're trapped. You're trapped
by a love that can't even begin
to protect you.
And yours can?
Come find me.
So I can judge you?
Yeah.
Why me?
Because,
you're the one
who saw me.
I have love here.
Kill it.
Are you ready for
bed, sweetheart? Yeah? Ready?
Come on, big man.
Come on. Let's go to bed.
Come on, let's go...
Once again,
for the very first time.
Yo, bro. Who's that?
Over there?
Yeah.
It's Naima.
She used to go out with Marco.
Go out or stay in?
Look, D.
As I spied a particular look in
your eyes,
I settled upon a
delicate turn of phrase.
Whatever the case may be,
whatever they did before they
started going out,
that's they business.
And I wasn't there to bear
witness to it. So...
Yo,
you know a nigga in trouble when
he's already jealous before
even talking to the woman.
She fucking with anybody now?
Nigga, how am I supposed to know
that kind of information?
Nigga, you knew she was fucking
with Marco.
That's because Marco's my dog,
D, so I know who he's
going out with.
I don't keep up with the
movements of his discards.
From here on out
you got to do your
reconnaissance, my boy.
Why he end it, though?
Seek and ye shall find.
Pull back the curtains, all
should be revealed. Promise.
Man, I pulled back many a
curtain. The only thing that was
left was yet another mystery.
Is the nature of the revelation
important? Or is the meaning in
the quest itself?
You can ask or don't ask.
Go or don't go.
You can shoot your shot or keep
it in the holster, nigga,
there will be truth in whichever
course of action you choose to
pursue. So, what do you want to
happen?
Yeah. I'm gonna go
introduce myself.
Do I know you?
I'm a friend... of a friend.
Marco.
Who?
Marco.
Who?
Oh, it's like that?
I don't care about your friends
or your friends of friends.
Who are you?
You know who I am.
Everyone in here knows who I am.
I don't.
Starletta, does she know
who I am?
She knows.
Anything I knew was meaningless,
now that you're here.
Now that you're here,
the only thing that matters is
who are you in relation to me?
I thought you'd never ask.
They go suckin', fuckin',
orgasm, vagasm, shivering,
cummin', touchin', kissin'.
In the rain. In the sun.
Upstairs. Downstairs. In the
car, bedroom, sittin' room.
Boom, boom. I'm coming. I'm
coming,
I'm coming. I'm coming.
I'm coming. I'm coming. I'm
coming.
I'm coming. Spooning.
Missionary.
Doggy style. Cowgirl.
Climb on top. Or should I
come on top?
Sloppy top. Don't stop. I'm
coming! (Are you coming?)
I am coming.
(Are you coming?)
I am coming.
(Are you coming?)
I am coming.
(Are you coming?)
I am coming.
(Are you coming?)
I am coming.
(Are you coming?)
I am coming. I am coming.
When I push it in. All in my
thing, hard thing.
Oh, yeah. Oh, she said,
ow! Ow! Ay, yeah! Oh!
I've seen you before.
We never met.
We've met. You've been watching
me my whole life.
Why would I do that?
So that you can judge me.
Judge you for what?
I'mma go now.
You just got here.
I'm not ready for this.
Then why did you come over?
So I could put something down
that I could build on later?
You try to come back and put
something down,
you're going to be building
something by yourself.
I'm not ready.
Ready for what?
I'm not ready to die.
Why would you die?
Because you're going to kill me.
That's crazy.
That's why you're here,
isn't it?
To kill you?
Yeah.
Why on earth would I want
to kill you?
Because I'm guilty.
Guilty of what?
Everything.
Tell you what.
Where I live is no secret.
You come over,
when you're ready.
I'll let you in.
You won't let me in.
Tell you what.
Let yourself in.
Naima.
Naima...
Yeah.
I was saddened to hear about
your family. It was a terrible
tragedy.
Yeah.
Come down here. Allow me to
comfort you.
I'm okay.
No one can go it alone, Naima.
Especially not you.
Come down here.
You were leaving anyway, weren't
you?
I'm invisible.
You can't see me.
A mirror free of glass, a spirit
free at last, a voice
raised high in prayer,
dropped low in mourning.
A feeling meant to pass.
A mood that's always blue.
An all-seeing eye blinded by the
sun rising in the morning.
A ceiling meant to be broken.
A curse that's always you.
You taught me a game that
I'd rather not play.
Me running,
you tagging.
Me hiding, you dragging me away.
There's no love in the love that
you proclaim every day.
No grace on my knees to receive
when I pray.
Now you can search for me every
highway or byway
I'll be far beyond reach.
You got nothing left to teach,
if you ever did.
Nothing worth knowing.
Nothing that's not better off
hid, in fact; You're invisible.
No one can see you either.
Fade into the ether, memory
shards stuck in my mind
like glass, deep cut on a wound
that will never heal, bad luck
on a run that'll never pass.
Keep that shard in my
womb like a seal.
Pull it out I might
bleed to death.
So I live with my pain,
breath after breath, 'cause
living is better than dying.
Guess I'll know soon enough
without even trying.
So, I let it go.
Learn the truth of that truth,
or the truth of the lie,
I'll reap what I sew.
I love what I hate, I hate
what I love.
Right feels like wrong, wrong
feels like right.
It's Heaven below and Hell up
above, I'll never escape you.
But you will never catch me.
So I guess it's all right.
I guess it's all right.
Eve in Eve's garden.
What you call Paradise is prison
to me.
Cut me loose from Adam's rib and
watch me harden.
Because as a child, you knew I
was a child,
I was broken as a child, I
couldn't speak as a child.
But as a man, you took away my
childish things.
So you look in the mirror,
darkly, and now face to face.
And now you should know yourself
as you should always been known.
But me? I am a woman.
Watch me soar on lyrical wing.
It may be broken.
It may be fragile. But it bears
me aloft and keeps me agile.
I am here.
Somewhere between time and space
my mind is clear
and my heart is keeping pace.
Like the ticking of a clock.
Tick tock. Tick tock.
Despised by God.
Despiser of all things great.
I hate what I love.
And I love what I hate.
You all right?
Guess you're not
invisible anymore.
This is a moment.
This is a moment in time.
While it lasts,
it's forever.
Then it's gone.
This is a moment in time.
While it lasts, it's forever.
While it lasts...
I don't want you in my house!
DeRay, get the fuck out!
It's forever.
In the beginning.
In the beginning.
In the beginning...
I was safe.
You felt safe.
In the beginning, I felt safe.
In the beginning, with your arms
around me, I knew I
could take on this world.
I woke up in my room.
It's in a hotel on a
planet in a galaxy many millions
of light years away from Earth.
I was late.
The last flight back to Earth,
ever,
was leaving shortly, and if I
missed it,
I would be left on this planet
forever.
Which might be all right,
because love is here on this
planet.
I knew that if I returned to
Earth,
I would live a normal long life,
and that if I stayed here
on this planet with love on it,
my life would be
indescribably brief.
I was rushing to make the flight
on time when I realized I
forgot something very important
back in my room.
I missed the flight.
Her name is Naima.
I changed it to Anne in
my mind because I didn't want
everything in my life to
be about Naima.
I was going to stay here for the
rest of what I knew is
going to be a very short life.
So I followed her up
towards the crest of the
mountain that overlooked
my new home.
Am I the only one who saw the
entire surface of this planet
was made of bones?
It wasn't very frightening,
but it was a hell of a thing.
And then it hit me.
My mother was never going to see
me again.
She was going to think I
died somewhere far
away in space.
I never made it to the top of
that mountain.
And life is still so short.
I guess that's what
happens when you love.
For a lifetime,
for an hour,
for a minute.
When you find love,
life is incredibly short.
I've been looking at you your
entire life. But I never seen
you before.
Until now.
I found comfort in your arms for
the first time.
I found my voice in the
darkness.
I found comfort in your arms.
This voice is my own,
and it was fashioned
in the darkness.
You gave me comfort. But this
voice is mine.
These men scream and fight back.
It's easy. So quit looking for
your spot here. It's like you're
not here, I won this battle
before you got here.
I just smacked him.
What's up Shorty,
what you want?
Can you see me?
Yeah, bitch, I see you.
Tell you what, you
look good, too.
Why don't you come see
me after I battle?
Let you mop these floors?
I ain't here to mop no floors.
I'm here to clean your clock.
Shit, okay. Period.
Disrespectful. You know,
I don't know who the fuck
you think you are.
This is my sho-
Chill, chill bro. It's Naima.
She stay up in Co-op City.
Think she hot shit cause she
write a little poetry.
Ah, poetry.
So, you spitting that wack shit?
So you think you
could battle me?
I don't care if I battle you.
I'm here to battle the world,
and you're just a benchwarmer
standing in my way.
Put me in coach,
take her out.
So move aside,
I'll spare your life.
Stand fast,
Imma run right through you.
Choice is yours.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Make your move, homey.
Do what you do.
All right.
Okay, here we go.
It looks like my patience
is being tried.
Y'all know last nigga that tried
it, straight up and died.
Natural time had nothing to do
with it.
Just sharpened up my flow and
stuck his heart through with it.
I'ma tell y'all about some
shit that occurred.
Only because it's finna
happen twice.
You should have took
me for my word,
'cause now your ass is on ice.
The pick in your neck
like a Sicilian hit...
"But she's such a
sweet little girl"
man, you know I ain't
giving a shit.
Popping off your mouth like the
proud owner of a dick. Man,
you making me sick.
The work split like your tits.
Hocus pocus.
I'll whip a pot like a witch.
Who is this?
I'll treat you like your
mom's in this bitch.
I still take your ass to school,
so stop acting like you sick.
You know what I think?
You could take it way better
than you could give.
I'll tell you what, you let me
fuck later and I'mma let your
ass live, cause this ain't no
fair case, bare face so they
know it's me.
She should have stayed home if
she was goin' to recite poetry.
I mean, you know, for me,
it's best to keep extra lead.
Thought this was a game, and now
her bitch ass is left for dead.
You can rap now.
I might be slow.
Did that sound like a threat?
I don't know.
It was as weak as weak gets. I'd
say it was weak as water,
but water's got flow.
Yo shit drier than a tired old
pussy on a tired old ho.
Took on so many Johns she
can't feel it no more.
Can't even get up and show them
the door. Nah. So tired,
your dick ride is exhausted;
they wheel fell off.
These niggas can't back
you in a battle
their hands too soft.
Look at you and
your best friend.
I knew he'd come and
support you alone.
Hold up,
y'all niggas too close.
Y'all bitches wear
the same cologne.
You say,
I act like I own a dick.
While you wave yours in my face.
Might have impressed me if it
wasn't smaller than a needle out
in deep space.
Face. I know you want to save
the fool one you got.
Shot, buried without a case.
Race to escape
being taken down by this
thug. Disparage me?
I can disparage myself.
How great can I be when
my competition's so shitty.
Wait. Why am I even
talking to this nigga?
He'll never make four figures,
never have an action figure.
Can't even find his father
figure. Wait.
Let's look out in the crowd. He
might be here right now. Psych!
I'm the only one that came
looking for you, I'm
your daddy now.
Sounds like a round two to me.
That sound like
a round two to me.
Fuck you mean a round two?
I just beat her.
Do you forfeit?
- You know I don't forfeit.
- You see me-
You either gonna step
in the ring or you gonna
forfeit. It's one or the other.
Alright, fuck it.
You see this
equal opportunity shit?
Sad to me.
I mean, you going through
torture, your ass already been
had by me. This is A.I.
Layup line. Easy cake,
all your shots be off.
Bitch, I'll make you pay bottom
dollar to top me off.
Y'all all watch.
You know I ain't shy.
Might go Dodo for that Dodo, you
know I can't fly. But really,
I don't know why they lie.
Cause I'm trying to see it y'all
way, but at this point, it's
blas, blas. Cause y'all say
say she's my way, and I say nah.
You see, this is why,
you should throw in your towel,
cause I just ate all I
could eat.
This is Golden Corral, and nah,
I ain't holding you down. I'm
just holding you down
until you stop twitching,
like you not different, so stop
bitching. You see, y'all bitches
how every woman is a god
and how y'all must
all be queens. I mean,
it's only right you get
swept by this king.
Leave you crying when I take
a knee and let this bitch ring.
I mean, is y'all niggas not
entertained?
I mean she got to be insane,
what the fuck is going
through her brain?
Thought she had the sauce 'til I
turn her to a stain.
Let me chill though. I'm a
let you enjoy your five
minutes of fame.
Should have never tried to
force it, now you're going down
that drain. It's a shame.
You can rap.
Well, since y'all keep
bringing that shit up,
how about some poetry?
We ready, we ready, we ready!
I'm not a queen like the rest.
More like the goddess of death.
I've been praying in darkness
to darkness's prince. And you
don't know it
but this soul was forged in a
fiery abyss far below this.
So I've been waiting for this
goddamn moment,
every goddamn moment since.
You think you hard.
Think you tough.
Think you got edge.
Well, now you face to face
with a face that's never
seen the ledge.
I pushed niggas off
them, though.
But I don't even rob 'em.
Just feed 'em to my demons.
Call them Gomorrah and Sodom. I
burn through these cities
the way I spit fire inside 'em.
You was right. This equal
opportunity shit?
It's not a fair fight.
What's the use?
This, you can never hit.
I can't even call it abuse. You
can't beat this bitch. That's
what you keep calling me, right?
A bitch? Well, bitch get spayed.
You the only one here
that's bitch made.
You demean the dreams of
goddesses and queens,
but this king lives in a hovel
in Jamaica, Queens.
Jamaica, what they call it,
but you got a leaky ass tub
and no ocean, no sun.
You can't get clean
like mother, like son.
Man, in yo, shit, you step
on a crack, you break
your mama's back. Well,
sprinkle some crack and get
your mama back.
Now, I didn't need to battle you
for you to commit suicide
with your verse.
Somebody call the parlor, let's
get a hearse. I'll pick up the
tab. I know you can't afford it.
Just keep doing what you're
doing, and soon you'll board it.
Now bye player,
I'll pray for your soul. You're
just another goofy ass fool that
got between me and my goal.
Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa
whoa whoa whoa whoa.
It's getting too personal in
here right now.
Let's make some noise and see
who won. For this side.
For this side, here.
Bye, player!
Bye, player!
Get the hell out of my way! I
grind up suckers like you
every goddamn day!
Bye, player.
You're welcome to stay.
But from here on out, we're
doing things my way.
Bye, player.
We doing things my way.
Bye, player.
You're welcome to stay.
Bye, player.
Doing things my way.
Bye, player.
Doing things my way.
Bye, player.
Doing things my way.
Bye, player.
This was a moment.
While it lasted,
it lasted forever.
This was a moment.
This was a moment.
This was a moment.
Come on.
Come on, get off.
Get off...
I'm alone.
But she's watching me.
She's been watching me
since before I was born.
That's DeRay Solomon...
I thought you
were dead.
Yeah, not for long, bro.
Yeah, alright.
Hey, yo, DeRay!
You don't fuck with
us no more, brother?
Nah, it ain't even
like that, man.
Now, this motherfucker too
good to fuck with us.
It ain't even like that. Yo,
what up, Zeke, man?
So, where you at, D?
Yo, I'm here nigga.
No.
Where you been at?
You know, bruh.
You don't battle no more.
Nah, I battle. I battle.
Yo. Who's this ghost-eyes
nigga, man?
This is DeRay Solomon, nigga.
Yeah. All right,
all right, this is true.
Now, this the motherfucker
that built the temple.
All right,
show some respect.
I used to go there, man.
Where you been at?
Yo. He don't battle no more.
I battle. I just took out Billy
Lo and his crew over in
Coney Island the other day.
That nigga wack as fuck, man.
Nah, he got skills.
You the motherfucker
that built the temple and you
battling Billy Lo?
Nobody gonna give a fuck
about that.
I mean, he got a ways to go,
but he got skills.
Look, if you really want to
battle.
You got to go up
to the Heights, D.
Alright? That's where Sky
Captain, Lunatic Moon,
Son of Satan, the Remix
Brothers, that's where they at.
I don't battle there.
- Why not?
Cuz I done it and it's bullshit.
Nah, that nigga just scared.
Man, that nigga too old.
Motherfucker that
built the temple...
Yo, fuck the temple.
I go where I want to go.
You know what I'm saying?
Well you should man,
that temple old as fuck. Better
to build your own-
I ain't gotta build shit
either, you feel me?
Yo, matter of fact, let
me see something.
You built the temple,
show us a prayer.
I would, but she's
watching me.
Who's watching you?
Yo, I be seeing you, Zeke.
Hey, only real battles
up in the Heights.
If you want a battle, that's
where you got to go.
Yeah. All right.
Yo, man, that nigga weird
as fuck, man.
Fuck the temple.
Fuck the battle.
Fuck the praying.
Fuck the loving. Fuck the
hating. Fuck the fears.
Fuck the pain. Fuck the tears.
Fuck the moment. Fuck the years.
Fuck the struggle. Fuck the
sweat. Fuck the stone we squeeze
for every drop of blood
that we get.
Fuck sunrise and fuck sunset.
Fuck the grind.
Fuck the fucking dagger lodged
deep inside my mind.
Fuck the monster.
Fuck the beast.
Fuck the faces of kindness they
hide behind and the innocence
on which they feast. Fuck me.
Fuck you. Fuck your mother.
Fuck your grandmother
too. Fuck your shoe.
Fuck every chore
and fuck every act of mercy
I feel inclined to do.
Fuck my faith.
Fuck my doubt.
Fuck beauty within.
Fuck beauty without.
Fuck being empty.
Fuck being whole.
Fuck the body.
Fuck the spirit.
Fuck the mind.
Fuck the soul.
Fuck in front of and behind.
Fuck it. Fuck everything.
Fuck it all. Fuck man before
and after the fall.
Fuck living. Fuck trying. Fuck
acceptance. Fuck dying.
Fuck the pose.
Fuck attitude.
Fuck resentment.
Fuck gratitude.
Fuck the earth. Fuck the sky.
Fuck the answer. Fuck the why.
Fuck going. Fuck coming.
Fuck being. Fuck becoming.
Fuck being alone.
Fuck being with you.
Fuck lies. Fuck sighs.
Fuck false and fuck true.
Fuck revelations and fuck
machinations.
Fuck dreams and
fuck meditations.
The longer I live,
the less I know.
Fuck it. Let it go.
Let it go.
Let it go.
I bring my room with me
everywhere I go.
But everything is new all
the time, isn't it?
Even my room.
Just cause you let someone in
doesn't mean they have to be
able to see or touch everything.
Does it?
Does it?
Come in.
Can we talk out here?
I thought we were staying in.
I don't want to go in there.
I don't understand.
I'm not ready to die.
What are you talking about?
I don't deserve to live,
I know that,
but I'm not ready to die yet.
I'm sorry.
Don't do this.
I'm gonna go now.
I feel safe with you.
You feel comfort.
That's what you told me.
There's a difference.
You told me to come
and find you.
I found you.
You told me to kill everything
that gave me comfort.
And I did that.
I killed it for you.
Not everything.
Help me.
I don't know how.
Please stay.
Bye, Naima.
You did right.
Who the fuck are you?
You know who I am.
What do you want?
Just to thank you.
For what?
Doing the right thing.
I don't know that it was.
It was. For me anyway.
Come down and
I'll thank you personally.
You think you can simply
walk back in there after
what you just did to her?
I'm not going back there.
No,
you're not going there and
you're not coming here.
What exactly is it you think
you're going to do?
DeRay. Is that you?
Come give your mother
a good night kiss.
You all right?
Did your brother
finish his dinner?
Where's Dad?
Did you brush your teeth?
I put all my books and records
away and cleaned the closet.
I haven't read your report card
yet. I figured I'd wait till
morning for that excitement.
There's fire trucks
on the block.
I thought it was for a fire,
but I think it's just for
someone who's sick.
If the dishes are over the
middle line in the sink, that
means they need to be washed.
I have a rip in my black jeans
on the knee part.
Miss Davis called. She said she
wanted to know if Tammy and
Shawn walked home with you.
I lended Tyreek my notebook
so he can copy down
the homework questions.
It's not due until Thursday,
so, I'll be done way in time.
I haven't finished my
research on Alvin,
so I'll
be up for a while.
Maizie won the dance off. She
was really good.
You get half an hour of TV,
then it's lights out.
Dale's mom made
chocolate chip cookies,
and he gave them to everyone in
our class except me and Jojo.
What's that on your hand?
Did you hurt yourself?
Where's Dad?
Do you want to sleep in here
with me tonight?
Fuck.
In my favorite book when
I was a boy, the hero,
don't laugh, is in his present
incarnation,
a southern gentleman
and former soldier of the
Confederate Army.
He's a man who can't remember
ever being anything other than
30 years old,
or a time in history when he
wasn't a warrior.
Some years after the end of the
Civil War, tormented by
idleness, he goes
prospecting for gold in the
Arizona Hills,
where he runs afoul of
some Apache braves who shoot him
dead with arrows.
Only thing is,
he doesn't really die.
He can't die. Not just yet.
Because he has
unfinished business.
He steps outside of his
own corpse and sees it
lying there at his feet.
Then he feels an incredible
energetic pull from above,
and he looks up to see
the night sky spread out
like a mantle overhead.
And at its heart,
the planet Mars,
cradle of all war and
blood and battle,
pulsing red and beckoning him.
He reaches his arms upward
and feels his spirit being shot
through space like a
stone from a sling.
And when he awakens,
naked as a newborn babe,
still a man of 30, he knows he
has come home at last to
his one true home.
Oh, and one more thing.
His sojourn on this strange
planet Earth and its heavier
gravity has strengthened his
muscles. So when
he leaps,
he spans a league.
And when he strikes, he's
stronger than any
ten martians put together. You
see, when he left home, he
left a man. But when he came
back, he came back a superman.
Back it up, back it up,
back it up! Woohoo!
There are battles below.
And there are battles
in the heavens.
Yeah!
You in the heights now,
motherfuckers!
Hey!
Immortals never die.
Yeah!
But they can
sure taste defeat.
You know what I'm saying?
Sky Captain.
Defeat's worse than
death, but I don't plan on
tasting either one.
I know, that's right. Yeah.
All right.
The gods create, but people
decide their fate.
Damn, that's the paradox
of life right there.
Well, well, well, look who came
to the Heights. What's up boy?
Oh! Hey, yo. Get
him the fuck out of here! Yo!
Chill, chill, chill,
chill, chill.
This is where the gods battle.
Yo, DeRay built the temple.
That's cool.
You can get on your knees
and pray with all that shit.
But you ain't battling here
today, nah.
I battled here before.
You must've forgot.
Maybe you did.
Did you win?
- It was inconclusive.
- Nah!
Wait wait wait.
Whoa. Peace, peace. Peace,
though. Hold up, hold up I know,
I know, I'm saying, but hold up,
hold up. I'm saying it's been a
minute. Yo, man,
what's really going on?
Where you been at?
I've been living life, you know,
doing shit that those
living life do.
I feel you, I feel you.
You ready for this, dawg?
Like Abraham, when he took a
hammer to the false prophets,
leaving them broken in the dust.
Yeah, but you know
the rules, my brother.
You fall short here today, you
ain't never coming back here
again. Know what I'm saying?
Yeah, yeah, yeah I know.
Do your thing.
Oh...
Let's go!
That's enough... That's enough,
that's enough!
The gods create,
but people decide their fate.
Remix Brothers laid
down the fucking law!
Let the defeated kneel
before them in awe.
Defeated? Wait wait wait
wait, wait. Run that back.
Run that back, brother! See,
before you utter some dumb
shit like that. Let me
ask you a question.
Oh.
Hey. Yo, Chuck, ask
him the question.
Kick it.
Superman kneels before Zod and
his brother,
just like a man kneels before
his god and any other.
Seems to you like things are the
way they're supposed to be.
It ain't really looking that way
to me, see.
Now y'all got us bent backwards
like the backs of gymnastics,
that's wrong.
When all along we fought against
gods to put y'all on
in sparring matches with devils
for training practice,
we resurrect the dead and split
the Dead Sea with our magic.
It's deeper than what you
believe in, it's our way of
coping and grieving and growing
and dreaming and focus for
reason when hope gets us even.
This globe is the season where
folks get to leave and turn cold
as a coat in the breeze
when there's snow on
the leaves, it's treason.
So Imma wrap up this verse to
challenge his wisdom
and pray he saves you before you
crucify it with criticism.
I ask
what came first the egg or
the bird? Which gives birth, the
idea or the word?
What's more important, the
sooner or the later?
Which is more potent? Creation
or its creator?
The way I see it...
Once the work is done and the
maker is gone
and his work lives on,
in his name, I ask you.
Who deserves more fame,
the getter or the giver?
Who is the richer?
The singer of the song
or its receiver?
Who's more blessed?
The deity or the believer?
Y'all, he built this
goddamn temple,
every move he makes
opens a brand new door.
You have the guts,
you'll follow him through it.
You gotta let go of what was
and follow us to glory.
Even the gods lack the courage
to do it. You gotta be a man to
tell a man's story. Yeah.
He built this temple
to show you the path
and the way. That is
creation creating its own
creator, creating a new God
each time that you pray.
He built this temple.
You built this temple.
I guess it's your right to knock
it down if you want to.
But what you're doing up in here
ain't where we at. You feel me?
Don't come here again. We out.
Shit, It's how we do.
It is now.
I'm gonna break north
for a minute, bro.
Alright, man. Peace to
the God, bro.
Peace to the God.
Stay up man.
- Alright bro.
How you doing, son?
I'm alright.
Come sit up here next to me.
You know, Mom's been
asking about you.
She knows where to find me, if
she wants me.
Well, she's asking anyway.
That was beautiful what
you just showed them.
Something that was always there
but has never been seen before.
It's nothing like what
you used to do.
No need for comparison.
I'm proud of you.
Thank you.
I know what you did that day.
Your mother can't help you with
this, you know? She means well,
but she can only make it worse.
What can be worse than having
done it in the first place?
It's nothing I haven't
done myself before.
One time,
a hundred times,
a thousand times.
What does it matter?
I just can't let
it go like that.
No need to let it go.
Then what the fuck am
I supposed to do?
You're a man. Live with it.
"Somewhere"
by Naima Davis.
I'm saying this because I saw a
movie and heard a song
called that in it.
Can I tell it just to you later?
And you can give me
my grade then?
You're in a classroom with
other children, Naima.
The purpose of this assignment
is to share your poetry
with others.
The song says there's a place
for us somewhere.
I'm just looking for
a place for me.
A place for us two is a place
I don't really want to be.
There's things I want in this
place. I made a list.
This part doesn't really rhyme,
so I guess it's not
really a poem.
Not every poem
needs to rhyme.
I want it to have lots of
sunlight and lots of grass.
I want it to have butterflies,
and I want it to smell like
Aunt Cora's yard when we
visit her for the 4th of July.
I want it to be wide and free
with trees so far so nothing big
could cast a shadow over me.
I guess that rhymes.
Yes it did.
Do you like it better when it
rhymes or when it doesn't?
I want to hear the
way you wrote it.
I didn't write it.
Who did?
No one.
What do you mean?
I mean, I'm just saying
it right now.
That's not exactly
what I had in mind when I
assigned it as homework, Naima.
I'm sorry.
Why don't you ask your
classmates how they would
like to hear it, then?
I guess I'll just say it the
way it comes to me.
All right.
In this summer place, I want
the sun to be shining
always on my face, so
that my own shadow is always
behind me and out of sight.
And all the shadows are
gone. And it's a sun that
feeds me a special light.
So I'm never hungry. And I
never have to look for food.
I'm always in a good mood.
And I'm never tired, so I never
need to close my eyes.
And I don't need sleep.
So I don't need to dream.
Not ever.
You can look but you'll never
find me. Because even though
there are no walls here,
there are also no doors to let
anyone out or in.
Not a single wall or
room or hall.
Most especially, no stairs,
going up or down or
anywhere at all.
It's just me there.
Not my friends,
not my family, and most
especially, not God.
Sounds like a very
special place, Naima.
But why can't your family
be there with you?
Because I killed them.
You killed your family?
Yes.
Why did you kill them?
For love.
And God?
God is everywhere, you know.
There's no place
you can imagine or go where
God isn't already there.
Then I guess I'll have to
kill him too.
You kill me and you
kill yourself.
Maybe.
But I met this guy.
He built the temple.
I even prayed there with him
for a minute or two.
And I don't know if there's
a God or not,
but I know one thing.
You are not him.
And one day
I'm going to kill you.
I guess this is just another
drop of rain in the ocean, huh?
It's the thought that counts.
I let myself in, just
like you said.
You keep it.
It's yours.
I'll knock next time.
You knock, I might not
let you back in.
I guess we'll just have
to wait and see, huh?
Are you going to break my heart?
Are you going to kill me?
I saw you standing out here, so
I figured I'd say something.
Are you all right?
Yeah. Better.
Me too.
I heard.
You say
That you'd stay.
Then why you've been
so far away.
Since I fought for you.
But you
Fought me too.
Every heart and
Every soul burns.
But we'll still
have those dreams.
And if this instinct.
Is all we're given.
Right now, is all I need.
So I fought for you.
But you...
I have a special
place just for me.
You're the only person
I let in there,
even for a minute.
Can we go back there?
There's something
I have to do first.
I'm probably not
going to be back.
Are you going to wait here?
Nah.
Well, I guess you're
going to live, then.
Yeah.
All right.
I built the temple for you.
And I tore it down for her.
Now, I'm going to build
something new...
For me.
Once again.
For the very first time.
Living my life
The God in me.
Is the God in you.
In this moment of creation.
See it all come true.
This euphoria is far above
a simple pleasure.
See in the world of
of sensation.
Love's the only treasure.
Living legend. Yeah.
Legend alive.
Legendary baby,
I'm just living my life.
Living legend? Yeah.
Legend alive. Legendary.
Baby, I'm just living my life.
Yeah, yeah yeah yeah. Yeah
yeah yeah yeah.
Living legend. Yeah.
Legend alive. Yeah.
Let's dance baby.
I'm just living my life.
Living legend. Yeah.
Legend alive. Yeah.
Legendary baby, I'm just
living my life.
I done seen it all. Can't
believe I'm alive.
Shooting for the stars.
See me up in the sky.
Jumped out the nest.
Had to learn how to fly.
Now I'm caught up in the life.
Only a few can survive.
I ain't tryin to preach a
whole sermon.
When I'm speaking I been
dreaming out of desperation
Missed a couple pieces to the
puzzle I've been seeking
everything that I lacked, I
saw it on my neck
Have a cross on my back.
Trying to ascend. Putting work
in 30 days, 30 nights.
Hands been dirty
Yeah, I give my all every
time.
Every day is all the time.
Walking on a tightrope.
Crazy
I'm borderline.
Living legend. Yeah.
Legend alive. Yeah.
Let's dance baby.
I'm just living my life.
Once again. Once again,
once again, once again.
Living legend. Yeah.
Legend alive. Yeah.
Let's dance baby.
I'm just living my life.
I done seen it all. Can't
believe I'm alive now.
Shooting for the stars.
See me up in the sky.
I jumped out the nest.
I had to learn how to fly.
Now I'm caught up in the life
only a few could survive.
I sing it from my soul.
Put my life in a rhyme.
Coming once again.
For the very first time.
Coming once again.
For the very first time.
Coming once again.
For the very first time.
Coming once again.
For the very first time.
Coming once again
For the very first time.