Robbed

There is a time and place

for every child to

grow into a someone.

My time and place came

when suddenly there were

bigger things than

playing football and

laughing at night with my

friends.

I found myself stretching

paycheck to paycheck

as if I were 45

with four kids trying to

pay for their college

instead of being 18

and not being able to afford

it for myself.

I grew from a boy with dreams

to a boy with responsibility.

I grew from a boy with hope

to a boy with heavy shoulders.

I grew from a boy with known potential

to a boy lost in a blue-collar world.

They say I am a grown man,

but they fail to remember

I was robbed of my youth.

There is a time and place

for a child to

grow into a someone,

but I am still a

boy

trapped in a man’s world,

ready to take back my

time and place