Reaper Time blues

(Verse 1)

I lit a candle for the ones who ain’t return

Every name a whisper in the ashes when they burn

Used to laugh until we choked on summer air

Now it’s silence in the photos, ain’t nobody there

We were gods once, young and full of sin

Told ourselves we’d never die, but the reaper always wins

First it was Marcus, then Eli, then Dre

Buried more brothers than memories I can save

I still see Troy, laughin’ under streetlights

Now he’s just a shadow in my rearview nights

Joe had plans, said he’d never fold

But dreams don’t mean sh*t when the world turns cold

Jaimie had a smile that could kill the dark

Now it’s just candles and chalk on the park

Lawrence was a fighter, had that fire in his chest

But life don’t care who tried their best

I wear their names like chains on my soul

A burden, a bond, a weight I can’t control

Sometimes I wonder why I’m still breathin’

Like death’s just waitin’ for a better season

I don’t run from it—I just stare it down

In every cracked mirror in this hollow town

Sayin’ “Maybe I’m next,” but not like a prayer

Just a fact, like the rot in the midnight air

(Soft, haunted delivery—almost spoken)

Troy, Joe, Jaimie, Lawrence… I ain’t forgot

You’re the silence in my chest when the world won’t stop

You left too soon, now I walk your path

With a head full of ghosts and a heart full of wrath

(Chorus)

I’m next in line, I can feel it in my bones

Every night I sleep like it’s a headstone

Reality hittin’ like a crash, full speed

You never know the moment that your lungs might freeze

Blood on my hands, but it’s not my crime

They just vanished with the tick of time

Ain’t no answers when the casket shuts

Just the echo of their voice when the world goes hush

(Verse 2)

Used to ride deep, now I ride alone

Too many ghost seats in my zone

Heard Mike took a bullet, tryna make rent

And Dee OD’d, said the high felt like ascent

Moms cried rivers, pops drank seas

Now I’m scared to pick up when the phone screams

Can’t even cry, my tears feel fake

Just dry sobs and a mind that breaks

Clock ticking louder with every year

Death don’t text back, it just appears

And I wonder when my number shows

If I’ll see it comin’ or if the curtain just goes

(Bridge)

I don’t sleep, I just stare at the wall

Seein’ faces in the plaster, hearin’ names they call

Heartbeat skippin’ like a record gone wrong

Every breath feel borrowed, don’t know how long

(Chorus)

I’m next in line, I can feel it in my skin

Like a draft in a room you ain’t never let in

Time’s a thief, and life’s the debt

We all pay when the sky turns red

No farewell, no slow goodbye

Just a flash, and then you die

So I pour one out, then one more sip

For every soul that death had gripped

(Outro – whispered/screamed)

Tell my boys I’m still holdin’ on

But this life feels like a ticking bomb

One blink, and it all goes black

If I don’t wake up… don’t wait for me to come back