Faith aint no joke
Persons can walk on water
They can walk through blazing fire
And they can walk through a thriving jungle
Teaming with bugs – creepy crawlies of every kind –
Oh yeah – and venomous snakes!
All through the power of faith
Hardliner is walking through this experience
With blind belief in the authority of God
Cause if she did not believe in his power right now
Umph – don’t go there she tells herself
At the moment – she is being kept company by Sam Cook
Crooning in her dome – “it’s been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gon’ come…”

Yes sar – it sure will
Sista is trying not to whine
She is trying to keep a lid on her pisstossity too

A most challenging thing to do because they
Seem to be all up in her DNA – the urge to fold
Into a whining and pissy rant is ever present
Despite her being fully aware that they are
A disservice to her character and purpose
She irritably slaps the back of her neck – hoping that she
Got the pesky mosquito that has been trailing her ass
Through this here hot and humid hell hole
Lawd – that was not a complaint!
She quickly folds into a makeshift apology

Like this place is blissfully cool and comfortable?
Bish – you are sweat out and smelling like a field hand
With mosquito bites all over your dayum body
Thank the Lawd for small mercies that you are dark skinned
This aint a lounge chair with a mojito on a patio
Overlooking a sprawling white sandy beach experience
Fact is fact – your situation is jacked
And somebody better put a chokehold on Sam
With his “change gon come” crap
I’m about through with all this!

Umph – Ms. Ego is here to take charge of the situation
And Hardliner gats to keep rooted in her faith
Because if she falls for her Ego’s real talk
She gon be facing a real ugly situation
Far worse than a few mosquito bites

Your Grandma was good with the earth
She was blessed
You are a healer – she passed this gift on to you
How rich is your earth Baby?

Hardliner suddenly stops – umph – Jesus
She takes a deep breath
As she is faced with a new scene
As usual the spirit changes things up without notice
It is not the beach patio scene though
But an expansive clearing of dry untilled soil
Then the realisation hits her – Oh heyul no!
Come on – her shit is better than this – surely!?!

Now we talking – shit gats its uses mama!
Ms Ego applauds Hardliner’s slip into profanity

Look at your hand Baby
Nanna states coolly – grace under fire
That alone inspires Hardliner
Looking down she sees the cutlass in her hand
Dang – where is her fly-ass sabre?

You are a field hand – you dim-whit
Gurl look around you
Ms. Ego’s tone drips with acidity
All that talk of good earth and whatnot
Has made her feel less secure of herself
Dayum weak and shit!
And now the bish is fixing to decapitate her

Hardliner cleans her dome of Ego’s filth
It is hard to look at her soil- dry and untilled like that
She knows its fertile soil – rich with possibility

But you left it untended – focusing solely
On your cerebral enlightenment
Almah again with her straight talk

What?

Chile you got caught up in your self-analysis
And left your soil to take care of itself
Your soil is your grounding – your essence –
Your stuff – that indescribable thing beyond your bowels
More than a place of feeling
It is the stuff you are made off Baby

I know that – Hardliner snaps
She knows she is being infantile – but…

Shut up and listen
How you walk – talk – and stand in this life
Reflect the condition of your soil
The foundation of your inner queen’s throne is your earth
Her reign will be as good as your roots
Without rich soil there aint no throne
There aint no roots
And you will have a de facto queen on your hands

Been there done that – Hardliner announces
She aint going down that road again

But Ms. Almah is sure nuff breaking down
Spirituality for the dim witted 101
So what is she to do now?
She is listening

You need to commune with your earth
Ms. Nanna answers with her quiet smile
Sit and pray in silence
And if you listen well enough you will hear her deep drone
To know your earth is to know yourself
All the answers are there within you
But then again you already know that

Hardliner still feels like she is going around in circles
All this earth and soil talk
How can she get from point A to point B
She wants structure – can she get some visualization

You mean cerebral enlightenment
Ms. Almah shoots back
What you don’t want is to really look into people’s eyes
And see your reflection in their eyes
Because this reflection of you mirrors
The present condition of your soil

Ooooooooh that was a big mama slap
Hey now – she has come a long way from the
Insecure and frightened woman child she used to be

Yes – but you still do not really look people straight
In the eye and deal with the gut truth when it is needed
What about the anger and frustration contaminating your soil
Putting a serious strain in your marriage
What about the self-doubt and fear of reaching your
Highest potential
You procrastinate and call it laziness
Your soil aint right little girl – do you want more real talk
I gats plenty

Ms. Almah is on fyah and Hardliner is stooping and pushing
This breakthrough – all the while fuming that for once
She wishes that she could catch them things before they sneak up on her
This here labour rolled up on her like a drive by
Shit!
Come on now
Like nobody gats perfect soil

Like nobody is your business
This is you and your journey
You were badass enough to answer the call
Of your spirit – your higher consciousness
You were badass enough to acquiesce
To God’s purpose for your life
Man up and take responsibility for the earth he gave you
Till it – take your pick

Incredulous!
Hardliner feels like laughing
Well – if she could through her jacked up labour pains
Dem old women gon give her a hoe – shovel and a rake
And tell her to take her pick
Like she is some field hand or something?

Little girl you better till your earth
Almah is channelling Big Mama
You cannot walk with faith if your soil is untilled
It could be rich with possibility but if
You do not turn it over and put goodness in it
Abundance will shun you
Abundance aint the pretty little term bandied about
In that new age spirituality of yours Baby
Abundance is a way of life
You have to nurture it even when your skies are falling
You have to live it when the voice of defeat tries to
Convince you that you will never gain financial freedom
That your marriage will never stand
That you will never achieve your goals
Or that you will never find that unguarded –
Happy peace with your mama
Come on – Ms. Almah suddenly shouts
Causing Hardliner to piss on herself

You are more than self-doubt
You are more than anger
You are more than indiscipline
You are more than fear of failure
You are more than inadequacy
Come on Hardliner
You are MORE
The Earth mother bellows with gut power

Be MORE in your unfulfilled job – it is merely
A rest stop on the path to your purpose
Be MORE in your marriage – make a decision and
Stand by it – but do something
Your soil is losing its vitality – its warmth
Till it

Hardliner’s winds are wild
But she is where she is meant to be
She has come through this breakthrough – roughed up but stronger
When she threw down Odin’s Vallhalla’s gates
She learnt that she deserved her blessings
In the Valley of the Queens she discovered her inner queen
She learned that she had to be present in her life
Hardliner found confidence and courage in dealing with her stuff –
By the time she left Hatshepsut she was ascending thrones
Like cutting profanity out of her vocabulary
Albeit the occasional shit escapes her lips
But she has blossomed into a woman
And now – well – her new guides – the Earth mothers
Are preparing her for the next stage in her womanhood
Yeh – they put a hoe and a rake in her hand
And sista is tilling her soil
She has left the Valley of Pharaohs for a plantation
Hardliner knows that a man’s wealth is his earth
And sista is obscenely wealthy
But dang it – she don’t gats to be so dirty
Smelling all funky and what not

By the sweat of thy brow
Almah’s voice is tickled by mirth

Hardliner aint impressed – and how come by the way
Almah can stir her pot but she can’t stir Almah’s

You can try it Baby
But I would not advise it – comes the reply

“There been times when I thought I couldn’t last for long
But now I think I’m able to carry on
It’s been a long, long time – but I know a change gon come”

Sang it Sam – that change betta come
She glances warily at Almah – and real soon