Yesterday- Poem by aloT of Poetry for L.Y.F.E. Album by ChefBeatz and 3rd Verse Studios -Released November 2025
Collaboration is a large part of my artistic practice and I was excited to not only be on a collaborative album with many Black artists in Calgary but also the idea behind the project. I wanted to speak about how where we come from culturally is important when it come to understanding ourselves and others. Understanding “yesterday” is key to being able to move forward and not look down on the thins you achieved and overcome to get to where you are.
Our ancestors and families have sacrificed so much (including thing we will never know) for us to exist today.
This poem s for them and for our future.
Wake up.
We open our eyes today and who we were yesterday becomes dust disappearing into time.
But where do we settle?
Where do our bones rest when we are gone
and our hopes are what's left in the future?
Wake up.
We are the dreams that were thought to be broken
before we ever took our first breaths.
We were born into the future of those
who never knew if they would see one.
If they would be reflected in the stories told that grow cold
in the vague pages of history books.
They never knew if their hands would be cut off
before they could write down the story of their lives.
If their tongues would be tied
before they could say I love you to their child.
If their heart would stop before they had the chance to
wake up to another today.
Yesterday is not something to be forgotten.
Who we were is not something we should be ashamed of.
Instead it is what we hold onto when we are lost…
Our lives extend further than when we were just ideas in the womb
Yesterday is the eternity before us.
It is the journey of people who were guided by the sun.
Who's deities shared their faces and carried crowns
that sat on their intricate braids.
Before yesterday, who we were was our own way of living
before someone tried to tell us who we were.
Our lives cannot be contained in an hour glass.
Our history bleeds out and we spilled to every corner of the globe.
We are the music.
We are dance.
We are the science.
We are the art.
So wake up.
Wake up and remember Yesterday.
Written for L.Y.F.E (Lost Yesterday Found Eternity), a collaborative album that highlights and celebrates Afro-Caribbean musicians and culture in Calgary. LYFE represents moving forward to the future, towards your true calling and design.
Led by producers ChefBeatz and SYMPHONII, LYFE is a showcase and, for some, an introduction to the best of Afro-Carribean talent in Calgary. LYFE is a 13 track project, featuring 20 artists and musicians in Calgary, including Mouraine, K-Riz, Tea Fannie, KtheChosen, Tarik Robinson, Malaika Hailey and more.
LYFE promises to be a unique representation of Calgary's landscape. Each individual artist comes with their own distinct experiences, backgrounds, cultural influences and artistic traditions and their own relationships to different communities across Calgary.The inclusion of poets Wakefield Brewster, Bethel Afework, and aloT of Poetry breathe life into this project, as they humanize shared experiences and truths.
Established collaborators and community leaders contributing to the project include Canada Council, Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Sled Island Music Festival, CJSW, CBC Radio, The Alcove Centre for the Arts, and the National Music Centre.
