Hold The Light

Taya learned young how to hide her tears,

Mama screaming through the house for years,

Pills on the counter, bottles by the sink,

Little girl forced to grow before she could think.

Cartell in the room with his hands on his ears,

Trying not to cry when the fights got severe,

Brad in the hallway looking tired and broke,

Holding his family together with hope.

Mama used pain like a weapon at night,

Turned love into fear, turned wrong into right,

Sometimes disappeared, left the house cold,

Left her own children feeling alone.

Brad worked long days just to keep lights on,

Still came home smiling when his strength was gone,

Held both kids close saying, “We gon’ survive,”

Even when the darkness swallowed their lives.

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Hold the light when the world gets heavy,

When the pain cuts deep and your hands ain’t steady,

Taya kept fighting, Cartell stayed strong,

Brad kept carrying them all along.

Broken home but they never broke down,

Learned how to stand when life hit the ground,

Through the tears and scars they found their way,

Together they survived another day.

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Taya became a shield for her little bro,

Blocking out storms inside their home,

Reading him stories while the yelling got loud,

Trying to make him proud somehow.

Cartell looked at his sister like safety and peace,

The only calm when the chaos increased,

Even through fear, hunger, and stress,

They still found love inside the mess.

Brad blamed himself for all the pain,

Thinking somehow he should’ve changed,

But every late night by their beds,

He fought his own demons inside his head.

Mama got lost inside the drugs,

Turned warm embraces into cold shoves,

But the kids learned strength through all the rain,

You can still heal from generational pain.

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Hold the light when the dark gets deadly,

When your soul feels weak and your heart feels empty,

Taya got courage, Cartell got heart,

Brad stayed strong when life fell apart.

Scars still live but they don’t control,

Pain may bruise but it won’t take souls,

And even through hell, through every flame,

Love was the reason they overcame.

⸻

Some families break…

Some families bend…

But the strongest ones fight through the pain together.