It was the day the plane ticket came
And it had my name
Took me away from gold
My heartbeat
Stuck me in a car seat
Or the seat of a car
Life’s sweet
Said someone
But I don’t know who you are
Look how far you’ve come
Wishing the ticket didn’t have my name
Because I could hear them sayin’
“You’re blessed…”
I wish I had your brain
That was a common sayin’
What do I say to that
You know I’m black
Even if I loved the world
They wouldn’t love me back
What if all I had to say was that
When they tell me
Apply yourself
Nothing in this world can hold you back
But all I hear is the voice telln’ me that
I shouldn’t forget where I’m coming from
That was childhood
And it takes me back
Wishing the ticket didn’t have my name
And you can have my brain
Don’t forget the burdens you have to carry
To keep you sane
While you listen to all those people sayin’
“You’re blessed…”
Taking myself from being that guy
To being that man
From being that cub
To rocking that mane
But this is just fancy feast
With some fancy talk
Poisoned
So it crippled those fancy feet
With the fancy walk
I don’t have it like they have it
I’m just trying to start
Turning it back on me
Asking
Why didn’t you make it
You were oh so smart
Can’t explain
I’m trying to buy my gold back
So I can save my heart
Trying to fix a house
I can never be King in
Hoping everyone plays their part
Wishing
They understood before depart
Before we part
So you can have my brain
If it wasn’t my mother
That ticket might have had your name
So you would hear them sayin’
“You’re blessed…”
This is the second installment in the series of poems titled ‘The Same Stories’. As with the first entry this takes its inspiration from an already established song. For this piece I used “Blessed” – Schoolboy Q. ft. Kendrick Lamar. As a token to that I titled the poem “Blessing”. What does it mean to be blessed? What is a blessing? Some people might define them as gifts or as privileges and those definitions are not inappropriate. Keeping that in mind, I’ve rarely ever heard anyone ask what the price is that one pays for these things that seem to be better than the norm. What does it take to separate from the crowd. We see people attain certain levels of success or we see them exhibit uncharacteristic talents but never know what brought those things to fruition.
The details behind the original track aren’t my story. Their blessings are not my blessings hence their price wasn’t my price. For better or worse they paid for their success with the life they lived before attaining it. On the other hand some pay with the awareness that comes with knowledge. This awareness is the kind that is weighted down with ideas such as guilt and responsibility, to name a couple. There is also the present and always vivid reminder of the life we live that never disappears but gets brighter as time goes by. Having to see it every day without being able to look away or being made to feel powerless to do anything about it is not a state of mind that is easily explained or garners much sympathy. This is the viewpoint I tried to tackle without making it an essay. Within our communities we don’t only have drug dealers, convicts and gang members who are unable to break through their personal situations and truly enjoy the gift of life. We also have scholars, leaders and many others who are elite in their own way. However, no matter how blessed they may be the price for that blessing within this environment is something they can’t escape unless they don’t mind living their lives empty and hollow.
*There is no recording or video for this due to time. There isn’t enough of it free right now. But listen to the original track and appreciate the perspective as well as the musicality.