109

PREFACE

I’m probably just famished

searching for meaning, because I’m lost

But, I’ll be damned if anybody tells me Nipsey wasn’t a Boss

Not because he told others what to do,

But instead he helped people,

and mastered knowledge of self

It’s evident in his philosophy about gaining wealth (All Money In)

And I was unhoused by the news of his passing because he was so much like me

Not his life’s trajectory

Nor his gangster proclivities

Nor his swagger

Nor the fact that he was a young Crip respected by OGs

Rather I identified with him because he was an American Black man

who strove to determine his own destiny

no matter if he was set-back physically or mentally

And then there are the parallels

between Nipsey and Jesus that have me scratching my head in disbelief

Jesus died at the age of 33

Anybody dying at that age doesn’t unhouse me

Tell me that the deceased

Strove to help his community

Set examples for future leaders

And invested his money wisely

Then you at least have my attention

Because those lofty goals match my ambition

And when I heard about Nipsey dying at 33

I immediately thought about Jesus

I didn’t think that Nipsey was Jesus

Rather I thought about the similarities

He led a movement during his lifetime

And lost his life later on down the line

His legacy will continue to live in all of us

In our hearts and minds

Let’s ponder other commonalities

Yashua Ben Josef was betrayed by a man and later killed by his enemies, Romans

And American Blacks are killed at the hands of our enemies,

Who shot ’em? a police-man

And I can’t stand to see

Images of us being murdered on TV

yearly

monthly

weekly

daily

So witnessing Nipsey murdered by a traitor

Has made life seem so unfair

Especially because we know that Judas betrayed Jes-uz

And Nipsey’s betrayal was at the hands of __________

Jesus cavorted with prostitutes who in his time were the lowest of low

In modern times police equate gangbangers as the equivalent of those

So even if our savior can be made of one who stooped down

Remember this so as not to be too quick to judge those who wear the crown

Now Bethleham is not close to

but not far from the region

where an ancient biblical kingdom

from which Asghedom traces back to Punt and Axum

Modern day Yemen, Ethiopia, and Eritrea

Habesha

Once ruled by Queen of Sheba

Abrahamic religions were all birthed from Africa by original Hue-mans

For instance, Jesus is mentioned more than Mohammad in the Qur’an

Coincidence? I think not.

Also, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, are one and the same

Even though the Prophets have different names

Professor Dr. John Henrik Clarke spoke against religiosity

He said putting religion down increases spirituality

And Rastafarians believe Haile Selassie was a reincarnation of the Christ

Well I say that Ermias Asghedom should be deified during our time of life.

Some of you aren’t trying to hear what I have to say,

But I’ll give it a shot anyway…

 

The Poem: 109

This poem is called 109, the day of my birth

A day in the life of a legend named LARRY

Do you believe in coincidences? don’t be scary

Just because I’m talking about an omen, you might think I’m joking

but I don’t care, it’s just some shit that I noticed

Now this is how I do this, when checking a grip

All these instances I’ll speak of are spooky, please don’t trip

109LAW2 is how my car’s personalized license plate used to look

Pockets empty, no job in LA, it was time to book

I traveled overseas, arriving at a new country

Come to find out, 1-0-9 was the country’s national holiday

1-0-9 on my mind, I was fine, I thought

Until I started waking up at 1:09 on the dot

multiple times, then it hit me

10 and 9 keep coming to visit me

even when I bought a train ticket my seat would be in row 10 or 9 respectively

1009 was even my group number, which I thought was assigned randomly

And I awoke sometimes at 10:09

Now try this one on for size

A strange woman asked me the time

I looked and replied: 10:09

Cut to the day I was at Addis Ababa University

Learning Ethiopian history,

Went to the bathroom,

on the second floor

Yup, you guessed it,

109 on the door,

While in Peru, Cousin Anwar said meditate, and listen,  Inca spirits will be with you

I reached the summit of Machu Picchu at 10:09, I guess what Cousin Anwar was true

And while in Havana, Cuba one night

reading About Revolutionary Che’s life, Imagine the sight

The sentence informed me that Che was shot on the 8th

of October, but he died on the 9th

After these 1-0-9 coincidences

I told my friend, Rochelle, but she said I am imagining things

So when I tried to forget them

I was surprised to keep seeing them again

De-planed in Saudi Arabia, I whistled for a cab and when it came near

The license plate started with 1-0-9 and it had me feeling weird

If anything I can say this cab was rare but I thought

Man, forget it, yo holmes, I’m not scared

Irrespective of what Rochelle said, I think these coincidences are signs

Why else did Nipsey’s death coincide

with the same week as was celebrated Mohammad’s rise (PBUH)

In other words, that same week Nipsey perished

Muslims around the globe were celebrating the prophet’s ascension to Heaven

Here I’ll tell you what happened to me, that same week that we lost Nipsey

Around the time Nipsey died, every seven days I was greeted by a new revelation,

Check these details and you’ll understand what I’m saying

Sunday, March 17th, I posted a picture of a goat to IG

because I felt as if that mofo disrespected me

by stepping on my new clean Nike sneaks

I was buggin’ out like Buggin’ Out from Do The Right Thing

Remember the goat, and my new Nike sneeks

These details will hold greater significance shortly

Sunday, March 24th, I posted another photo to IG

While laying in a tent, eating Oreo cookies,

also I was reading a book and wearing one sock

Remember the sock, but especially the date on which I posted this photo to IG

This detail will hold greater significance shortly

Sunday, March 31st, it all became clear

That day we received news we didn’t want to hear

I awoke and looked at my feed on IG only to realize

That a friend of mine

Who rarely posts photos had posted a photo of Ermias to my surprise

I read the caption and began to cry

That was how I learned that Ermias died

That morning I felt lost, distraught

On my short drive to work, a car cut me off

I read the license plate, What can this be?

A sense of peace washed over me.

The license plate read 10-90

Nipsey rapped Hit him “like an Omen seize the moment Hussle why wait”

Sunday, April 7,  an Omen appeared in the sky

There were chem-trails up there, I can’t explain why

For six months I lived in Oman’s former capital, Nizwa

And over those six months no planes flew overhead so this sight was irregular

Though it wasn’t the chem-trails that had me at a word loss

Rather t’was the sight of the smoke forming a CROSS

After Seeing the burning bush

Moses Led Israelites from Egypt to Canaan

This story is retold in the Book of Exodus

Which Christians are familiar with

This story has been retold many times, but not like this

Let me attempt to surmise

Stranger than fiction, Ermias means God Will Rise

Lend me your ear and I will explain why Nipsey was beneficent

For starters, like Moses, 109 has me feeling ancient

But you will think I’m crazy if I told you GET OUT of LA

Board planes and relocate to Shashemane, Kumasi, or Mekele

Now peep this, 7 is a spiritual number

It is said to mean the completion of a mission

Remember that I said every 7 days occurred a new revelatory incident

I believe these were no coincidences

Sunday March 17th, a goat stepped on my blue laced Nikes sneeks

Sunday, March 24th, remember that picture I took while eating cookies?

Sunday, March 31st, we lost Nipsey

And finally, Sunday, April 7th,  seeing those chem-trails made me believe

That Nipsey’s mission was complete

After a leap of faith, I traveled Earth, Had I not done so, it might be a different conclusion

Were it not for my travels and this predilection of mine

Which entails me encountering 1-0-9

In the most common places, but at the most unlikely times

Now peep this, before you call me a numerologist

I didn’t know about numerology but until only recently

So to add to this mystery, 1-0-9 is an Angel Number according to a Google Search

Now that that is said, in this techy-world,  everything I said has more worth

I guess it’s fair, my friend, Rochelle told me that I was tripping

and she didn’t want to hear about it, she said 10 and 9 are everywhere

And I believed her especially when I went to the Apple Store

where every device is set to the same score

But when the first friend you make

After the first international trip you take,

which you consider a leap of faith,

Shares the same birthday, you wonder anyway

And to recap, one week after posting that cookie pic to IG

I saw that video of Nipsey carried out on a gurney

He was still wearing a sock on his left foot

I felt shook, Nipsey was speaking to me, seven days before his body went limp

I was wearing one sock on my right foot eating Oreos in my tent

By

Larry Alfred Wiggs II

Click here to view the book, 109

Here is a YouTube video about the 109 back story: