The Renaissance

This poem is a modernized version of the Gil Scott-Heron piece "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised". Only, instead of a revolution I want a rebirth, a renaissance, of creativity & excellence in art, music, & poetry. Fittingly it was the other poem I performed at the very 1st Burlington Slam Project.

The Renaissance

The renaissance will not be televised
You will not be able to see it on cable.
You will not see it on ITunes, TiVo, or Youtube.
You will not be able to see SuperBowl commercials,
Or half-time wardrobe malfunctions due to a 2 second delay.
Because the renaissance will not be televised.

The renaissance will not be compromised.
The renaissance will not be available on Blu-Ray-DVD
Encrypted high def with an FBI copyright warning.
The renaissance will not be sound bites of Bush
Declaring "war on terror" & "evil-doers" like Saddam
Hussein, Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda only to be
Stuck in Iraq years later with no exit strategy.
The renaissance will not be compromised.

The renaissance will not have its world premiere at the
Grauman's Chinese Theater and will not star Beyonce,
Lindsay Lohan, or Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn.
The renaissance will not give you another face lift.
The renaissance will not get rid of wrinkles.
The renaissance will not make you look ten years
younger, because the renaissance will not be advertised, brother.

There will be no color-coded terrorism threat advisory scale,
United States Department of Homeland Security, or
Emergancy Readiness kits with duct tape in them.
The NSA will not be able to get warrantless wiretaps
For KEYWORDS like "bomb" or "jihad"
The renaissance will not be terrorized.

There will be no footage of pigs beating down
Rodney King on instant replay.
There will be no footage of brothers beating
Reginald Denny on instant replay.
There will be no coverage of Rev. Al Sharpton
Eulogizing James Brown at the Apollo theater
There will be no LAPD car chase of O. J.
Simpson riding in a White GMC Bronco,
Going 40 miles an hour down the LA Freeway,
Wearing black Isotoner gloves he had been saving
For just the proper occasion.

Survivor, American Idol, and Big Brother,
Will no longer be so damned relevant, and
No one will not care if Britney finally got back
Custody of her 2 kids because people
will be in the street looking for a brighter day.
The renaissance will not be commercialized.

There will be no video blogs or highlights on
Entertainment Tonight of Paris Hilton going to jail
For D.U.I. or Miley Cyrus going platinum.
The theme song will not be remixed by Bad Boy,
Jermaine Dupri, nor sung by Tupac Shakur, Biggie Smalls,
Kanye West, Soulja Boy, or Black Eyed Peas.
The renaissance will not be glamourized.

The renaissance will not be right back after an Email
From EBay, ECommerce, ETrade, or EHarmony.
You will not have to worry about Anthrax in your
mail, a bomb on your plane, or water in your carry on.
The renaissance will not go better with rhymes
The renaissance will not be longer than 3 minutes and 10 seconds
The renaissance WILL be found here at the Drake.
The renaissance will not be televised, compromised, advertised
Terrorized, commercialized, or glamourized.
The renaissance will be no cover brothers;
The renaissance will be live.