23 & 1

I was just a boy with the sun in my eyes

Barefoot dreams and a heart open wide

Didn’t know the world could cut so deep

Didn’t know the scars I was gonna keep

I was laughter, hope, and open hands

Before the noise, before the fists, before the man

This is the truth, no halo, no disguise

Just a story of survival in a man’s own eyes

Somewhere down the road I lost my way

House got loud, fear learned my name

Anger in the walls, venom in his breath

Walking on eggshells, learning how to protect

I learned to harden up way too young

Learned silence before I learned to run

Then came the cells, the steel, the gates

Eating cold trays, counting days

Six by eight, concrete thoughts

Twenty-three and one, fighting what I fought

No window hope, just time and regret

Talking to God, talking to myself

I didn’t know who I was or who I’d be

Just a broken kid with no relief

I was angry, numb, didn’t care to live

Didn’t love myself, didn’t know how to give

I been down in the dark where the light don’t stay

Still standing here, still finding my way

Life hit hard, tried to break my spine

But I’m still breathing, still crossing lines

Then came the needle, the smoke, the rush

Anything to quiet what I couldn’t hush

Heroin, coke, crack, meth

Chasing peace while flirting with death

Bathroom floors and locked doors

Tears on walls nobody saw before

Promised tomorrow, lied again

Didn’t know how low a man could bend

Then I got clean, yeah I clawed back up

Built a business with calloused trust

Started stacking days instead of sins

Found pride in my hands, dirt under my skin

Then came my kids, three sparks of truth

They handed me purpose, they handed me proof

That I was more than my past mistakes

More than the damage that life creates

I learned how to love, learned how to fight

For something bigger than one more night

I found my name, I found my ground

Built myself back brick by sound

I been down in the dark where the light don’t stay

Still standing here, still finding my way

Life hit hard, tried to steal my name

But I’m still here, still in the game

Then I loved a woman with all I had

Would’ve bled for her, good or bad

But she tore me down, made me feel small

Had me forgetting myself, losing it all

I held onto hope that was never real

Let her words erase how strength should feel

I almost went back to that hollow place

Almost let the past reclaim its space

Low strings hum, drums hit slow

Electric cries what I won’t show

Now I’m broke, lonely, don’t know what’s next

But I’m clean, I’m standing, I ain’t lost yet

Everything breaks, yeah it always does

But I keep my head high, still choosing love

I’m a good man with a battered heart

Still building greatness from broken parts

I don’t need applause, I don’t need fame

Just forward motion and my real name

Destined for more, I feel it inside

Still walking forward, still alive