City of Broken Dreams

I come from the city that never sleeps,

NYC,

city where gentrification stimulates broken dreams,

but evidently it's not as awful as it seems,

Mother Liberty just raised Margot Gayle and Jay Z,

two diamonds in the rough with messages to transcend,

strive to keep their mind straight when society bends.

A brimming problem flashes in me in the eyes,

the one kind of person that everyone seems to despise

We collectively envy the affluent and selfish young man

but who does not empathize for the extended empty hands

that reach out on the streets of Broadway

Because they are not qualified enough to get paid.

Money is a blessing but if you're poor it is your fault

all that money kept in their pockets not a dime feeds the poor

keep it locked in a vault and rub it off,

why doesn't the man just get a job?

The life chose him not the other way around

it ain't as easy as you thought

he spent his salary providing for his bedridden mama

had to work two jobs and overtime in the summer

his father left in '02 and died of alcohol poisoning

only him and Uncle Drew at the funeral, no one else came crying

had to take care of his younger siblings, that's right

and when he got his legs stuck in that engine

A strong man turned cripple

Emotionally distraught and encompassed in the sadness

He lived a life you will

Never

ever

IMAGINE.