UNKEPT

Your calluses are as hard as your broken heart You’ve been feeling those aches since your last name was Hodges Mr. Mayfield how does it feel to live a life of misfortunate events that leave scars on your fingertips Like how your fourteenth scar on your left thumb represents your last words to your real parents The ones who taught you that you don’t have to be blood to be family How things changed after their deadly car crash When your blood sister couldn’t bare to raise you anymore “You were too much of an inconvenience” In other words, too available for the explosion of her bottled up emotions But you’re built just like her Shattered glass as a skeleton Something scarred and broken for a heart Your calluses seem to always be rubbing up against hard to handle situations I’ll never forget how you became homeless at 17 School system could care less High school drop outs are what our community is known for But you are not a little boy anymore And living on the streets does not teach one to grown up The story lines your hands run deep because you carry loneliness in your palms You would question me “Why is life worth holding on to” And finally I have a response: You have to straighten up your spine young man You have to figure this out There are many ways to get smooth skin again Here’s tape to put together your brokenness Stand rebuilt There is more than pain and tears within you Acknowledge your intellect and your strength Your legacy must be God's best kept secret Because I can still see your humanity through your calloused hands The ambition in every scar on your fingertips The sweat in your eyes The dazzling love in your shattered heart I see more than a boy who is surviving I see the potential of the man you will become I believe the storyline in those hands of yours are beautiful