Don’t Tell Me was the seventh track from the Music CD, and released in 2000.
Several months before my mother’s death, my relationship with Cyrus experienced its finality. It was a mutual decision. Starting with Thaddeus, then moving to Titus, Joel, and finally, Cyrus, each one of my relationships grew stronger than the previous one. I knew that what I had with Cyrus would be challenging to match. Cyrus felt the same way. Even so, we still decided to end our relationship.
Coupled with my breakup with Cyrus and the death of my mother, I knew my life was experiencing yet another reincarnation. There would be new lessons to learn and new things to experience.
After Cyrus and I broke up and established a friendship, I took him to North Carolina to meet most of my family. They instantly loved Cyrus. Some members of my family were shocked that I brought home a black man. I realized that the universe (God) works in very intentional ways! There was nothing mysterious about it whatsoever.
Right before I moved out from living with Cyrus, I completed my “Interactive Multimedia and Web Design” certification at George Washington University. This transition would be my fifth career change, and I was excited to find a creative profession finally.
I graduated in the first week of August and celebrated by going to New York City with one of my best friends. Josaphat was on a business trip and was staying at the Marriott World Trade Center. He invited me to join him and take advantage of the free lodging.
While there, I spent most of the days walking around Greenwich Village. One night, I was in the famous gay club Monster, which had been in Greenwich Village since 1980. I was standing on the edge of the dance floor, watching the dancers, when suddenly, a person from my past walked into the room.
It was Zuriel. (See Cherish) Zuriel and I had seen each other a few times since his departure from North Carolina in 1990 but had lost touch with one another several years before this night. We instantly hugged each other, and he introduced me to his boyfriend. Zuriel had lived in Manhattan for several years and had never been to the Monster before, but for some reason, he and his lover decided to visit the club that night. From everything I learned about metaphysics, I knew running into him was no mistake.
The next day, Zuriel picked me up at my hotel, and we headed to Jones Beach on Long Island. We spent the morning catching up with one another. For the first time, Zuriel and I discussed how we felt about each other back in 1989/90 and discovered that we both had intense feelings toward one another. I was happy to hear this.
“Tell me love isn’t true It’s just something that we do Tell me everything I’m not But please don’t tell me to stop.”
We spent the early part of the day on the nude beach, and for the first time in my life, I got to see a naked woman with her legs spread open. I couldn’t stop staring and said, “Well, that’s what they look like!” Zuriel laughed. I had seen pictures, but never one live and in person. We left the beach a few hours later and drove back to the Brooklyn Courthouse for Zuriel to attend jury duty. Zuriel parked his car in the garage, and I escorted him to the courthouse’s front doors. We said our goodbyes, and I walked across the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan. We would not see each other again for a couple of years.
It occurred to me that if it was possible to reconnect with loved ones here on Earth, what’s to stop us from reconnecting with loved ones who have passed on? We’re all part of the same universe and within limitless boundaries. The reunion with Zuriel showed me that we all come in and out of each other’s lives for a reason.
There are no mistakes when that sort of thing happens. It’s all meant to be.
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DON’T TELL ME
Don’t tell me to stop
Tell the rain not to drop
Tell the wind not to blow
‘Cause you said so, mmm
Tell the sun not to shine
Not to get up this time, no, no
Let it fall by the way
But don’t leave me where I lay down
Chorus:
Tell me love isn’t true
It’s just something that we do
Tell me everything I’m not
(first time:) But please don’t tell me to stop
(all other times:) But don’t ever tell me to stop
Tell the leaves not to turn
But don’t ever tell me I’ll learn, no, no
Take the black off a crow
But don’t tell me I have to go
Tell the bed not to lay
Like the open mouth of a grave, yeah
Not to stare up at me
Like a calf down on its knees
(chorus)
(chorus, prefixing 1st and 3rd lines with “Don’t you ever”)
[Don’t you ever]
Please don’t
Please don’t
Please don’t tell me to stop
[Don’t you ever]
Don’t you ever
Don’t ever tell me to stop
[Tell the rain not to drop]
Tell the bed not to lay
Like a open mouth of a grave, yeah
Not to stare up at me
Like a calf down on its knees
