Grace

By Raphael Olympio

Spoken word artist and rapper Olymio Raphael shares 'Grace', a working spoken word piece for Good Day Cork's Winter Solstice 2021 series

Photo credit: Fionnuala O’Connell Photo caption: Smiles – see smiles in life everyday

This year I met Grace but first…

Let’s rewind back to last year 

Let’s Rewind back all the time, rewind back all the tapes, let’s flip back all the pages

Bring back the rage, against the machines, 

Clear out the smoke and mirrors, or they’ll fog you out with  steam 

stimulate your nerves, break you down, break your self esteem,

I lost so much sleep, yeah I thought I lost all my dreams

Can’t believe my eyes, I need help, I can’t even scream 

Man I feel so small, standing tall to face my hurt and pain 

Put my faith in God, but what’s faith without a hope for a change 

And then I found Grace, her beauty shined in such an ugly place 

Looked at me and saw more than just a man who feels outta place. 

About the author:

Raphael Olympio is a spoken word artist, rapper, musician, community activist and a role model to many through his work at Cork Migrant Centre. Raphael is presently training to be an occupational therapist at UCC. 

Raphael’s latest single ‘Can’t Live Like This’ is available here and check his music on YouTube.