As a child i was taught to hold in pain,
if a tear should fall wipe it away,
theres no time to mourn over the sorrows of yesterday,
toughen up,
daddy raised soldiers who never give up,
train hard and fight easy,
taught to survive in all conditions,
hustle in all positions,
we kept close the family traditions,
were a plate of collard greens and black eyed peas could heal your soul from the problems of yesterday,
when you didn't know if you could make it through the day,
times have changed,
and now its all a test and game,
analyzing if we can make it through obstacles and maintain,
peace and love you think we would gain,
but instead we are left with an empty plate,
and turn into heartless monsters who walk the streets,
to the beat of a hollow drum,
hollow like the feeling when nothing has come,
money?
they say more money more problems its true,
but without enough money you don't have no food,
which results to empty tummies,
but grandma knew,
she taught her babies hope to make it through,
with sweet slave spirituals she sung while she washed are little baby butts in the sink,
reminding us to think,
voices must be heard,
opinions must be heard,
or the change will never occur,
its a new day do with it as you want in a new way,
cause i refuse to back down,
strong cause thats the only way i know how,
a warrior and my words are my armor,
that help me fight battles to make things right,
its time to take flight,
and leave behind the barriers that keep us confined,
its all in the mind,
it just takes a simple change of thought to make things right.

my story poem

Now i lay me down to sleep,
I pray the lord my soul to keep,
If i should die before i wake,
I pray the lord my soul to take.

He repeated it over and over,
Trying to convince himself that the lord had heard him,
But he didn't believe,
To him the bible was full of lies and short stories,
How could he?,
grew up in poverty,
seen stuff that should have blinded him,
and society labeled him as a monster,
too many times had he been lied to.
too many times.

Now i lay me down to sleep,
I pray the lord my soul to keep,
If i should die before i wake,
I pray the lord my soul to take.

He repeated it cause he was not promised tomorrow,
wasn't scared of fate cause he grew up through violence and sorrow,
he was living on the edge,
about to fall off,
he got on his knees,
but he didn't believe,
he just had a little hope that if there was a god he would understand,
cause he had trapped himself in a jail of his own making,
the streets had made him numb,
he could no longer feel or love,
and the sounds of the guns blast,
made him deaf from the sweet little voice that called him dad.

Now i lay me down to sleep,
I pray the lord my soul to keep,
If i should die before i wake,
I pray the lord my soul to take.

You see his father was never there for him,
so this dad did not yet know how to be a man,
and his daughter,
would fall under the category of children living under single mothers,
she would grow up through a struggle,
and although she would become stronger,
she would later be raped by a man much older,
and as the six year old girl bowed her head,
and folded her hands before she went to bed,
the following words flowed through her head.

Now i lay me down to sleep,
I pray the lord my soul to keep,
If i should die before i wake,
I pray the lord my soul to take.

The cycle will never end of parents abandoning there kids till you take a stand,
see bettering yourself now is bettering the seeds of tomorrow,
and although we are all in search of heaven on earth,
we are not promised tomorrow and so i pray...

Now i lay me down to sleep,
I pray the lord my soul to keep,
If i should die before i wake,
I pray the lord my soul to take.