Lawd have mercy – it is too dayum early for this shit
The sun is still turning over in its sleep at this ungodly hour
And Hardliner is awake – her dome pulsating with
A classic song from a child hood fairytale
Like nobody never noticed that Dorothy Gale is a headcase?
The chick has been missing in action since this Yellow Brick Road
Experience descended on Planet Hardliner
But now she decides to make an appearance
After all – what is Oz without Dorothy ‘Pigtails’ Gale?

Headache free I’ll bet – Hardliner quips
Wincing as Pigtails slays her ‘Over the Rainbow’ anthem song
Loud – proud – and pitchy as heyul!

Good Lawd!

Hardliner slices Nadie with a side eye
Hoping that the guide would do something about
Dorothy and the piercing headache
That has laid down root in her left eye

Nadie returns an owl like stare – much to Hardliner’s chagrin
And sista suspects that the tall stately woman is getting a kick
Out of Pigtails’ pitchy rendition of her rainbow blues

So you aint gon do nothing about this cray cray chick
Going on about troubles melting like lemon drops
Wishing upon stars and places in lullabies

She is in your head little one at your behest
Her rainbow blues must resonate with you on some level

How about ground zero – Hardliner retorts then winces again
As Pigtails – seemingly caught up in her Centre Stage moment
Reaches a sublime pitchy crescendo – that jolts clarity from its slumber
To a manic display of flashing light bulbs in her dome
Hardliner recoils from the blinding glare of this breakthrough
This is not a hallelujah praise ah ha moment for sista gurl
Its smell – reminiscent of her Snow White Complex breakthrough a while back
Lawd – that Valhalla experience was hardcore on a sista
Hardliner recalls with a shiver
Yet out of all her journeys of self-discovery
The Yellow Brick Road has been the most bizarre
Turning sideways she steals a glance at the supernaturally large
Silver furred – blue-eyed wolf lopping in and out of her shadow
So it would stand to reason that the latest breakthrough
To hit Hardliner’s dome
Would be some repressed beef with Dorothy Freaking–of-Oz Gale
Sista gurl halts her yellow brick stroll –
Struggling to imbibe this sweet and sour ah ha moment
Like first off – who the hell has time to think about Dorothy Gale

You – apparently little one

Umph – Hardliner steels herself against the
Temptation to say something funky
Note to self – focus on one nutmeg at a time
Sista wonders why a fairly sane thinking woman like herself
Gats to have play dates with cray cray heffas
The likes of Snow White and Dorothy Gale
Who sing about rainbows and star wishing
Princes – castles and wedding bells ringing
Where is the substance to all this?

If you would stop fighting this breakthrough
You will find the answers you seek
What do you think lies beyond your rainbow?

Hardliner has always used the term beyond the rainbow
Loose lipped and sass swinging – cause she be a baaaaad diva
But now – in answering the call to dive into this deep
Sista questions – what the heyul does she mean by
Beyond the rainbow? – what do rainbows signify to her?
What is her pot of gold – who or what is guarding it?
Does she gats to jack a leprechaun to get her stuff?
Can a rainbow bleed out its colour into shades of grey?
Can someone get trapped beyond their rainbow?

The questions are coming fast and fucked up
Hardliner feels rushed all of a sudden
Her pulse – increasing from a stately gait to a freedom gallop
Beads of sweat dot her forehead – palms clammy
She bends over – back bowed with her hands on her knees
Feeling like she has just tried to run against Usain Bolt
All this anxiety birthed by one little question
‘What lies beyond her rainbow?’
Meanwhile Pigtails has begun her umpteenth
Rendition of ‘Over the freaking Rainbow’
Hardliner has never considered herself an empath
But right now she feels the gamut of emotions
Dorothy weathered during her own Yellow Brick Road experience
Anxiety – anger – fear – helplessness – loneliness – confusion

In claiming the rainbow of her dreams
Pigtails had to survive a nasty twister
Whack two psycho witches – wear a God awful looking pair
Of red sparkly shoes straight off from the corpse of a witch
Whose feet most likely radiated levels of funk that would fell an ox
And survive being faked out by the ‘Wonderful Wizard of OZ’
It was not exactly the experience she had envisioned
But Dorothy reached beyond her rainbow nevertheless
Right now dem sparkly red shoes are gracing her mantel

Where are your shoes Boo? – Hardliner probes inwardly
Yet it comes off as being more than a little accusatory
It galls her to admit that she does not know what
Lies beyond her rainbow –
She has some ideas of what she would like to find – success

And how does success look to you? Nadie asks
Her intuitive stare breaking down Hardliners walls
Ferreting her secrets before she could rebuild her barriers
Hardliner shifts uncomfortably feeling ashamed to acknowledge
The shallow – greedy and lustful part of her – Ego’s World
That craves success for validation – position – financial security
Power – fame – opportunities
Ms. Ego – shifty as always – loves to play with Hardliner
Sista gurl thinks she’s all spiritual and bag of chips
But Ego likes to remind Ms. Budda Seer of her greed and
Lust cooties infection
And deep down – Hardliner revels at the thought of being
Super successful – as sweet revenge against all her haters
Good Lawd – Hardliner is mortified – paralysed by panic
Ms. Ego don told all her business – spiteful bitch!
Sista don’t want to deal with this shit
How can she shut this shit down?
Dang – where are dem shoes!?!

Isn’t self-awareness and self-discovery
Part of being a spiritual being
It calls for acknowledgement of your truth
You cannot fix what you do not acknowledge little one

Hardliner folds into a couple of deep breaths
She releases the self-censure and self-judgement
She acknowledges that lesser part of herself
That chases illusions of grandeur and importance
To blanket her inadequacies – and sooth her insecurities
Maybe that is the lesson Dorothy learned
She was chasing illusions of a perfect life
And she had to reshape her perceptions of herself
Redefine what rainbows meant to her
May be the lesson is not about Hardliner finding her rainbow
But about transcending it
Hardliner struggles to contain the depth and breadth of this breakthrough
Something keeps eluding her – the missing part of this puzzle
Sista is beginning to feel rushed again
She drops unceremoniously onto the Yellow Brick
The sun is yawning and stretching – slowly coming to life
After a night of deep slumber

Wake up sister – Silver Shadow’s brisk command reverberates
In her dome – for a moment shutting Pigtails up in mid flow

With the dawn breaking on the horizon Hardliner
Realises that beyond the rainbow is a state of being
Where one has transcended their rainbow dreams
Which are based on fantasy – inadequacies – insecurities
And to get to this state of being – one must be willing
To allow their rainbow dream to fall apart in order
To birth new dreams – authentic and purposeful
Note to self – redefine a rainbow – according to Hardliner
Hope – courage – perseverance – faith – strength
Vision – optimism – serenity – joy – wisdom – freedom
These are all she needs – and she is ok with that
These are the things that build authentic dreams
Fueled by purpose

There are innumerable rainbows within you little one
Innumerable dreams to birth
Rise Hardliner – meet the rising dawn on your feet
Nadie extends her hand to her charge
As Dorothy is getting ready to throw down
Some more of her Rainbow blues

Yow Dorothy!
Gurl!
Baby – it’s ok – I got you gurl
I got you and thanks
And Hardliner means that
But God knows – sista intends to rock peace and quiet
For a long – long – long time