Born in the belly where the prayers don't land,
Crib full of roaches, held rage in my hands.
Street lullabies sang my first bars,
A crib-side cipher underneath jaunt stars.
From cradle to cage, the system play its game,
Chains on the name, trying to extinguish my flame.
But my pen bled stories, black ink in sagged bags,
Left for dead in the shadows, I’m the phoenix unmasked.
Foster homes churned me in their black wound,
Rains poured poverty, but my rhymes found tune.
Through wire fences and razor melodies screamed,
Young ward of pain, trying to sew the dream.
From cradle to cage, the system play its game,
Chains on the name, trying to extinguish my flame.
But my pen bled stories, black ink in sagged bags,
Left for dead in the shadows, I’m the phoenix unmasked.
Juvenile cells locked the poet inside,
With ink-stained hands, I swore I’d never divide.
Gospels from grey walls like shackles won’t win,
Storm’s eye tattooed in my poet's skin.
Graduation’s a jumpsuit, orange is my gown,
Adult block welcomes with a scorned, hollow frown.
Days bled together, slavery’s ghost dance a rave,
But my verses became locks no cage could enslave.Born to the ether, tossed to the storm's rug
Mama disappeared, life's first cold shrug
In the system, hands rough, food scarce, lies big
Ink pen my partner, life's a bid, not a gig
Juvenile halls, the walls whisper crimes
Concrete diaries, it's my nursery rhymes
Switch gears, adult cages, state-fed meals
They boxed me in but the pen breaks the seals
Only ink bled while my body stayed trapped
Poems birthed in shadows, don’t need no map
Counted out, zipped up, but I still roam
Found a voice in the darkness, made the pain home
Body bags held bars, lines that tattoo pain
Paper soaked in tears, storm after rain
Left for dead, nah, the tombstone’s a throne
Every mark of my pen, a crown of my own
They wrote me off, but my words wrote back
Each stanza a blade, splitting the system's track
Shackled child to penned prophet, check the glow
Flames from my past turn my words pyro
Only ink bled while my body stayed trapped
Poems birthed in shadows, don’t need no map
Counted out, zipped up, but I still roam
Found a voice in the darkness, made the pain home
Poet419
