My Paper, My Pen, & I

It's just my paper, my pen, and I When times get hard to roll by And my eyes start to retain the tears inside All I have is my paper, my pen, and I When the struggle multiplied When my alcoholic uncle died When people around me were getting high All I had was my paper, my pen, and I When my coward dad raised his fist up high And all my momma did was silently cry And my dimming soul was struggling to survive All I had was my paper, my pen, and I When my friends started to change for the worse in junior high When I was left in the cold with no one by my side And I had no one there, not even God to be my guide All I had was my pen, my paper and I. When I witnessed the first Brown on Brown homicide When every morning it was a strain to rise And my happiness began to shy And I couldn't imagine myself living another three-sixty-five All I had was my paper, my pen, and I When I see police violate my people's rights And we face discrimination for preserving our Brown Pride And my people live through an empty fridge every night And we are forced to commit crimes Just to struggle to see the next sun rise And when I didn't know how to deal with the pain bottled inside All I had was my paper, my pen, and I Everyday poetry is saving some one's life It has given Black and Brown people a reason to survive It's the best alternative my community has besides drug supplies So everyday, regardless of the pain I feel inside, I'm always satisfied knowing that I'm always gonna have my paper, my pen, and I