Lessons of The Cipher

Poetry taught me about me 

And I just want to be free 

But what does that mean?

Do what I want

Say what I want

Wear what I want 

To you, maybe

 

But all that is empty if it ain't what I need

And what I need is peace 

But how can I have peace when he got a peice

I already know the image your brain cooked up 

But I'm talking about the police 

And how can I have peace if we all can't eat 

The youth sleeping in the streets, doing strange things to make their ends meet 

 

But they won't tell you the whole story 

The old narrative's getting boring 

And while y'all passing laws and on vacation, The war's still raging 

against starvation, miseducation, and subjugation 

 

But this is our nation, under god

They made us repeat it 

Had us chanting "With liberty and justice for all" 

But that don't mean nothing if you're small 

Small city, small borough, small neighborhood 

Right in the cracks

The pavement

The drugs 

The government did all that 

 

That's what poetry taught me

We're never truly free 

In fact, It's when you believe yourself to be free that you've been trapped

 

 

 

This poem is about: 
Me
My family
My community
My country
Our world

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