I Am Man

When you see a window closing, reality sets in

Time has passed you by

You find yourself looking up at the stars in the sky

Right is still right and wrong is still wrong

No matter how many things you wish you could take back

No matter how many things you wish you could have done

The reality is that it has only just begun

Father time sometimes leaves you without a father

The winter will test you to see if you can really become stronger

All of the answers will be clearer than ever before

And all those doors you shut are now someone else’s war

At the end of the day I’ve just been chasing all that’s my own

Every boy runs from the fear of being a man

Only to understand a man is what he must become

Forgiveness and Wisdom

Knowledge of what it means to belong

The willingness to make your last stand

The determination to rise above oppression

The perseverance, the sweat falling from the brow

The breaking of the mind, to strengthen what the heart must vow

Finding your self determining to be the lion and letting go of the cub

In a world full of power, with a palm full of fear

It’s the morals and ideals that will bring you either far or near

The weak will settle, the strong will lack heart

It’s the one who embraces change that has the keys to the world’s art

Rising with the moon and setting with the sun

Only a fool cries wolf and expects the lion to come

I am who I am, I can take it or leave it

Buts when its all over, its my legacy that will be left speaking.

For Ashley...

The only way to show someone you love them is by living it

The only way to win someone’s heart is by giving them yours from the start.

The only way to keep it from falling apart is to treat each day like it’s only the first.

And the only way to be real is not being afraid to show them your worst.

Yes you have to pray together in order to stay together

Yes you have to cry together in order to thrive together

Yes you want to be together forever until forever brings you together

But you have to know that forever doesn’t heal whatever pain may come tomorrow

I’ll never forget to show her that I love her

I’ll never forget to hold her tightly in my arms.

I’ll never forget to squeeze her until she squirms

Because I prayed for God to let her find my heart

She’s the first thing on my mind when I wake up

And the last thing on my mind when I go to bed

I keep growing more and more with her

I’m becoming a man faster than I can understand

So for all of those good days I haven’t lived yet

And for all the bad ones I’ve left in the past

The only thing that matters for the moment

Is knowing she’s mine for better or blessed.

Empty Truths

Empty bottles, unfulfilled dreams
Pretty faces and pretty wings
Left to become better
Stuck finding fairer weather
Scared of being complacent
Still shaking off whats left of my adolescences
Having the world in the palm of my hand
Not as satisfying as I had planned
Responsibility means new stresses
More money, still need more blessings
Only stupid people fall in love
But when you're head over heels
You're brave enough to thrive under this sun
Hunger between my fingers
Sleep is no longer affluent like speech
No matter how many times I've fallen
The teacher is always going to teach
The winds will always scare the seas
And choices will keep life on its knees
Gripping the independent thoughts weighed down in the depths
A man's mind is weighed down, when he no longer understands his world
The obsession of control
The obsession of always having to know
Knowing isn't always the best
But if growing is only gained by knowing
Then being lonely isn't worth the knowing
The wine bottles always deliver the truth
And the empty feelings are always fulfilled in the warmth of her hugs
You can only be greater than your moment
But that moment is dependent on if your willing to be great
Fate isn't always in your control
So are you going to hold on to it when its yours to mold
Or are you just going to remain the lost boy,
Too afraid and unknown.

Running

The greats can only rise
Not being humble causes the fall
To think out of the box places you ahead of your time
Yet death has a sting that no man has escaped from
Why do the good die early and the wicked die late
I'm on the run to those pearly gates
But I'm find myself driving both sides of a lane
I know I can't serve God and man
Is that the decision it takes to become a man?
The dark places are sometimes the brightest
Maybe seeing with the mind is what leaves me not feeling slighted
Numbers and noises
Not many have heard
Not many will ever feel
No one will ever really know why Jack took Jill up that hill
Maybe everyone is Jack
If only we all could lack fear
Its under these skies that we remain in ill repair
Societal norms are the everyday blues
Toes will always tap
Thoughts will always dance
The masses chant
The heroes fail
After all they're just men
Men who like the rest can't win to prevail.

Consistency

I love you
You don't love me
Thanks dad

Told me sorry is nothing but a word
A simple mishap

Life goes on
Life goes on
Life goes on

God blessed me with a Mom
Who loves me in my rights and wrongs

Pushed me to be smarter
Pushed me to go farther
Trained me to think with my head and give all I have to offer
Death before dishonor
Do whats right
Do what God says
Remember who you are
If they work hard, you have to work harder

I still haven't made it yet, but I know will
I've outgrown those mountains, they now look like hills

Come down to earth
Bring it all back home
37206 reminds me of everything I've become

Spent many days and many nights of just dreaming
Met consistency on the way
Makes life feel so pretty

From branded names to new faces
I'm no longer lonely
From doubted wishes to hunger pains
I wrote a new story

Not sure of how life ends
Just know I'm not ready
I grew in love once
Found out its not that deadly

Ran off with my heart,
Don't really want it back
Ran off with my heart,
Put my life on a different track

Learning to live within my means
Trying to give her all the things
Failing to deliver perfection
Creating a smile brighter than her skin complexion

I love her and she loves me
We argue and we disagree
We make it look so easy
We know our happiness
Is key to the better things

Prayer and emotions
Calm seas grander than oceans
If these weren't the tricks up my sleeves
Then life wouldn't even be.

Lord Knows

Deep thoughts on life
What's deeper my heart or my mind
No time for mistakes
No percentage errors
Radical
Maybe that's why I'm grounded
I was taught to fly
How is it possible to be humble at the same time
My God, my life, my lady, my team, my dreams
Never been sure how it will all play out
Never really sure of my reasons to avoiding the doubts
Walking on the thin line between arrogance, cockiness and confidence
I don't mind swimming those waters
I don't mind putting all my chips in
I don't mind taking the current loss
Because right around every corner is an incomparable win
Used to be on the run from any storm
Only to realize I was running to find out who I am
Think of who I'll be tomorrow
Think of who I'll be at the end of this dying sun
Finally get to witness what it means to be happy
Yet only in the eye of the hurricane
Cause the world surrounding is full of uncompromised skepticism
Full of the fury from the women who left me outside of those pearly gates
I didn't become a monster
I didn't become a legend
Call me a king for my own set of reasons
Call me mad for creating my own path
Had to leave behind the dead weight
Men were once boys but not all boys become men
Not all ignorance is bliss
No form of truth can come from fiction
The parallels of a peasant and a saint
The parallels of a heathen and the house that sank
Dot the I's
Cross the T's
Check the box
Live within the adjusted means
Become the reckless
Don't forsake the helpless.
Take away the dangers
Live the life of the oppressed.