Ok girl – you back on good earth
The newness of life hits her full bodied
As Hardliner surveys her new habitat
It has taken about minute for sista gurl to birth her way
Out of the womb like space she has inhabited
Without the grace of light illuminating the birth canal
And it took a couple more minutes and then some
For clarity to penetrate the stupor of victimhood over her situation
With the realisation that whining about the nonexistence
Of that hallowed light to guide her to safety
Was doing a girl no favours and that sista had best
Light up that canal her dayumed self

“Slay trick or you get eliminated” – heyul yeh Beyonce
Knows a thing or two about being her own light
To guide her out of dark situations
Squinting in the glare of life reborn
Hardliner considers things aint quite lined up
How she wants them to but – at least she is starting
To see some kinda formation
It is hard to mistake the energy of alignment – however
Subtle – suffusing her dome
Which stands to reason why Queen Bey is slaying
Sista’s dome with her ‘Formation’ anthem
Shattering the remnants of that delivery daze like glass

Hardliner is awe struck – this is some stellar digs
An expanse of rich grassland unfolding gently into
A series of rolling hills – as far as the eye could see
A girl could get used to this situation
Although her situation could change in two blinks and a wink
With pursed lips she thinks back to the times when Spirt
Changed the landscape on a sista without warning
Dropping an irate ocean in the middle of her rainforest setting
Or supplanting the Yellow Brick Road with a wide valley of dry bones
But hey a gurl aint complaining – being a model of serenity
Humility – patience and what not
So for now Hardliner is content to enjoy this here glory
Sitting in the shade of a massive banyan tree
With thick roots spreading out like a web
It’s numerous branches splintering the early morning sunlight
Queen Bey is giving dem rolling hills life
With that formation bass – “cause – I slay – ok / I slay – ok…”
Ok ladies now let’s get into formation”
Although – aside from the vybe that things are finally
Coming together for Hardliner
You would think that some other song would resonate with her
Amidst such scenic beauty – as it is said – nature
Is but the garment of God
Yet she gats Beyonce singing about hawt sauce in her bag

A soft musical chuckle tickles the back of sista’s neck
And Hardliner whirls around to greet a familiar face
Lit with mischievous twinkling eyes
Ms. Rennah – Hardliner inclines her head with a bow

The Earth mother approaches her
Decked in a flowing gown the colour of amber
Model of serenity – humility and patience Baby?
You might have some luck with stand-up comedy
Those twinkling eyes take an in-depth inventory of Hardliner
Before she states with some reflection – or maybe not so much
You take yourself too seriously

Hardliner tries to shake off the discomfort of
Rennah’s soul reading exercise with a perfunctory eye roll
Yall still keeping tags on a sista
She looks warily about her
Eh – did you bring any fire with you…

If you are referring to Almah – no baby
Rennah answers – registering the disquiet in Hardliner
Regarding the take no prisoners type Earth Mother guide
A teasing smile plays with the corners of her mouth
I thought the two of you got on like a house on fire –

Which house wants to tango with fire Ms. Rennah?

The ones that have come to the end of their usefulness
And wish to be built anew

Well who can argue with that – Hardliner is just a bit surly

Put the hawt sauce back in the bag chile
Pull out that serenity – humility and patience
I know it is in there somewhere
Rennah links her arm around Hardliner’s waist
And they look out and over the horizon swallowed
By those magnificent rolling hills –
They sing you know – she adds softly- almost reverently
In the early mornings – like this one
When the sun is just opening its eyes –
Those hills sing – meeting each day with gratitude
But I doubt you could hear them with your slay trick song

Hardliner winces – you don’t have to put it like that

Let’s take a walk baby – Rennah smiles
Her aura holds a mixture of joy and creativity
That Hardliner is envious of – wishing that she
Could reach out and scoop some for herself
To drape over her shoulders
She has felt bereft of creativity for a while now
In fact – for a while everything stopped
When she inhabited that womb like space
Her life plodded on like an overladen murky river
Dealing with hella issues involving her mama mess
Going from joblessness to zero contract-having to eat-humble pie
Not college degree salary-and not feeling it employment
And a sex life that – oh yeh – she aint gats one
If she learnt anything from her last victory
About seeing life in her dry bones
It would be one: that shit is dayumed hard to do – seeing
The situations in her life as she envisions them to be and not as they are
And two: people rocking that kinda crazy are badass to the bone
But she has come through all that – things are looking up
Starting with a good work situation
Creativity and joy should be bubbling within
Why does she feel so flat?
I need time Ms. Rennah – Hardliner states quietly
Not liking the vulnerability creeping in her tone

And still that small voice – Rennah observes gently
Why do you need time to leave this place?

Poignant question – and Hardliner wished that the
Earth Mother had not gone there
Rennah may not be earth quake causing Almah –
But she is no triflin wannabe
She is a straight up ninja who could take Hardliner to her knees
Love the character sketch baby – but you are stalling

Rennah smiles with a warmth that has started to break
Down Hardliner’s walls
The weight of feeling alone presses against her chest
Vulnerability is one slippery hoe
Dem bitch ass tears threatening to bust her tear ducts
Betta flow backwards to where they came from
Damnit – she slays…

I slayed – personalise it – Rennah interjects

I slay that Tweety Bird coloured brick experience
Only to pick up and move again – alone – again
I come out of a battle – having overcome issues in my life
Only to be rewarded with another battle to reconcile
Some other resurgent shit

Oooooooh Her frustration now runneth over

You still have afterbirth gunk on you girl
Rennah states prosaically

Good lawd – Hardliner groans
As she finds herself standing on the bank of a
A bustling little river – crystal clear in its intent
Of moving forward on its path
Rennah looks at Hardliner with her twinkling eyes
Expectation mixed all up in that twinkle

Uh – that zest for life river right there is frigid
I aint sticking no parts of me in that freshness

So is your attitude to leaving this place

Absentmindedly Hardliner tends to an itch at the base of her neck
Which triggers some more itching on her arms – torso and –
Hold up – ewww – why does she have
Blood and shit that looks like phlegm all over her body
Hardliner frantically flaps her arms – doing a freakish dance
In a panicked state
God you’re tripping she screams
Ms. Rennah – what the …

After birth – Rennah replies prosaically
When a baby comes into the world through
That narrow and dark birth canal
Covered in a phlegm of blood and body fluids
It is cleaned and swaddled
Wash the gunk of your new born skin chile

Jeeze – all yall tripping
Gats me covered in blood and mucus just to jump
Into some frigid ass water

Start by tipping that cup brimming with frustration
In the river baby

Hardliner couldn’t explain it even if she wanted to
All she knows is that by the time that water hit her skin
Something shifted within her
She could feel her inner queen standing strong
With fly-ass sabre in hand – bloodied from slaying
That Yellow Brick Road experience

Everything she went through up until this point of cleansing
Like jumping off a cliff into her destiny with a jacked up parachute
Deconstructing her rainbow dream to replace
It with the flesh and bones of life visioning
Accepting that she may never find peace with her mother
Holding herself accountable for rocking abundance
Speaking life into her dry bones
Pushing her way through that narrow birth canal
And lighting up that bitch herself
Has prepared her for the next leg of her life journey
She is not the woman she used to be a year ago
Hell – she is not the same woman she used to be 3 months ago
She feels this truth to her core

Hardliner is washing off this here afterbirth
So that when she walks into a life brimming with new opportunities
Vibrant visions – wholesome relationships – and ninja type slayings
She aint gon wear nothing but clean skin and good aura
Ok Ms. Rennah – I wanna hear dem hills sing
Trick slayed

Amen
While we walk you can tell me the difference
Between being alone – feeling alone and feeling lonely

Hardliner feels a churning in her soul
And Rennah is all smiles and eye twinkles
She tries to deflect the situation
Where this song at Ms, Rennah?

Funny things dem hills
When you start talking
They start singing