I’m Jennie from the block
But this ain’t just a street, it’s the bruise in my chest,
The place I learned to keep my heart in a bulletproof vest,
Where I gave too much love to men who left,
Where I stitched my own wounds with cigarette breath.

I’m the girl who seen mama’s eyes go dim,
Counting quarters for bread while the rent caved in,
I’m the ‘don’t cry baby’ she whispered when
The world pressed her throat like original sin.

I’ve been the rumor they whispered waiting in pick up lines
The name they twist when they see me shine
I’m the ‘she too loud’ and the ‘she so strong’
But when the lights go down, they all sing my song.

I’m the shadow in the alley that never sleeps,
Where trust gets murdered and secrets creep,
Where kids learn fast how to silence grief,
Where your best friend smiles but their soul’s not free.

I’m the dream that bloomed in the gutter’s spit,
The girl who swore she’d never quit,
I’m the prayers that rose from the basements floor
The ghost of my younger self I'll never forget.

I’m the mother who birthed hope from a belly of doubt,
Raised warriors in pampers, taught ‘em what love’s really about,
Told ‘em ‘don’t bow down, stand up, and shout
This block might cage you but you’ll break out.’

I’m the backbone of my bloodline’s cries,
I’m the laugh after heartbreak, the truth after lies,
I’m the way my eyes don’t apologize,
I’m the woman who’ll love you then cut off all ties.

See, they don’t know how deep my roots run,
How I dance with my demons just to feel the sun,
How I crack my ribs open for anyone
But God stitched me back every time I’m done.

I’m Jennie from the block
tattooed in pain,
Gold hoops and a halo drenched in rain,
I’m the hush when they whisper my name in vain,
The proof that from ashes you rise again.

So tell ‘em I’m still here, scars and all,
A storm in my lungs, my back to the wall,
They can bet I’ll break, but I stand tall
Jennie from the block
I survived it all.

He loved me
in soft mornings and long nights,
in sweet nothings whispered
under flickering lights.
He kissed my trauma
like it was art,
and I mistook his silence
for a careful heart.

At first, it felt real
like fate wore his cologne.
He studied my pain,
then made it his throne.
Told me I was safe,
told me I was seen
but every word
was washed in gasoline.

He gave just enough
to keep me close,
and lied so smooth
I drank each dose.
Said, “You’re the only one,”
with a look so still
but love that needs hiding
ain’t ever real.

The nights got colder
though he still held me near,
and I blamed myself
for every tear.
Gaslit till I glowed with doubt,
rewriting memories
he blurred out.

He called it love
what a clever disguise,
but his lips were laced
in a thousand lies.
He was the storm
pretending to be my shelter,
and I was the fool
that thought I could help him.

Now I lay alone
but finally free,
tracing the scars
where love used to be.
And if he ever wonders
why I let go
it’s ‘cause I fell in love
with a man I didn’t know.

If betrayal was really forgivable,
then why ain’t the devil sittin’ next to God,
crowned in the same glory,
singin’ the same praise song?

He knew the throne.
He knew the light.
He still chose the lie.
And even Heaven had to say:
“Not here. Not again. Not this time.”

They tell me, "Girl, forgive him, love wins."
But they ain’t the ones
who bled in silence when his loyalty went thin.
They don’t know what it’s like
to be both the prayer and the sacrifice.

I’ve kissed faces I should’ve never trusted.
Laid next to shadows and called it love.
Held my tongue while it burned
just to protect what was already gone.

But I ain’t bitter
I’m divine.
God carved me out of war and wine.
Soft in spirit, but steel in spine.
You can cross me once,
but twice?
You ain't even worth the rewind.

See, forgiveness don’t mean reunion.
Grace ain’t an open door
it’s a boundary with compassion.
Even Jesus broke bread with Judas,
but best believe He knew what was gonna happen.

So yeah, I forgive you
but my soul don’t forget how it flinched.
How your silence had a pulse,
how you watched me drown inch by inch.

You played God with my heart,
but forgot I know the real One.
And He don’t keep serpents
where His daughters come from.

So I release you in peace,
but I don’t welcome you back.
Even angels get cast out
when they lead with lack.

If betrayal was truly forgivable,
maybe Eden would still bloom.
But I ain’t lettin’ another snake
sing lullabies in my room.

I ain’t mad, I’m chosen
but they gon’ feel this shift.
Tried to bury me in silence
'til my prayers started to lift.

This ain't no temper tantrum,
this that holy-woke-up pain,
from a mama who got bruises
but still baptized in the rain.

Don’t tell me to calm down
when I speak what y’all ignore.
I seen love turn into war
right behind a slamming door.

Tatted tears on a canvas,
they think I’m too much flame
but God ain't call me timid,
He called me by my name.

They lied and called it love,
they dipped when life got real,
but I ain't built from fairy tales
I'm built from scars that heal.

I ain't out here seeking vengeance,
I'm out here seeking peace
but if they think I won’t fight for mine,
they best not test this leash.

This rage? Ain’t reckless,
it's disciplined and divine
I learned to bite my tongue
'til blood became my wine.

And I ain't perfect, nah
but I’m standing in my truth.
My babies watch me rise,
so I turn rage into proof.

Proof that broken ain't forever,
proof that hurt don't win
'cause even when I'm shaking,
I choose God again and again.

So no, I won’t stay silent,
and no, I won’t behave.
This fire in me’s righteous
ain’t no soul I need to save...

Except my own.

Don’t get it ****** up
I ain’t hard ‘cause I never broke,
I’m hard ‘cause I broke open and built castles outta my own bones.
I stood ten toes down for a man that laid hands on me
yeah, I ate that pain, fed it to the fire in my chest,
came out with my crown straight, edges laid,
heart still big enough to hold heaven and hell.

I done fed folks who stole my last crumb,
smiled in faces that would slit my back wide open,
and I still showed up whole
that’s loyalty you can’t copy,
that’s God sitting in my spine saying,
“Get up, baby — they can’t **** what I keep blessing.”

I raised babies that ain’t come from me,
kissed foreheads that never carried my blood,
loved ‘em like my own ‘cause that’s just who I be
my love don’t check DNA,
my loyalty don’t clock out when it gets rough.

I’m the one who survived the silence
and the side eyes,
the half-*** apologies and the fake prayers.
I’m the hush before the boom,
the rose that bite back when you think it’s sweet.

See, they wanna know how hard I really am?
I’m the pretty with the pit bull bite,
the soft with the street in my step,
the prayer and the promise
I bend but I don’t bow,
I bruise but I never beg.

So speak on me gentle
my name got weight you can’t carry.
I’m the woman you can’t bury ‘cause I’m seeds and roots
and every storm they said would drown me
just watered my garden.

How hard am I?
I’m hard enough to still forgive,
still rise,
still stand ten toes for people who couldn’t stand for me.
I’m God’s favorite problem
blessed, battle-tested, still pretty when I’m ******.

Try me
watch me break your curses
with the same hands I fed you with.
I’m everything they said I’d never be,
and baby, I’m just getting started.

I’m that mother,
the one they whisper ‘bout when the streetlights hum,
the one who kissed bruises ‘til they bloomed back strong
but baby, test my calm and watch me turn storm.

Play with mine?
I’ll DAWG walk your *** ‘cross every block you claim,
drag your petty down the pavement,
make you swallow every rumor that tried to stain my name.

See, I break my back so mine never gotta bend,
I carry legacies in my hips,
dreams in my palms,
a whole bloodline stitched in my spit.

So come for me ,   come sideways for my mine
and I’ll show you how a mother loves with her claws,
I’ll show you how a saint can shape-shift to a savage,
I’ll make you pray to the same God you laughed at.

‘Cause I’m that mother
sweet enough to bless your plate,
mean enough to flip the whole **** table.
Try me.
Play with mine,
and I’ll DAWG walk your soul back humble.
Watch me.

We were never lovers
don’t romanticize it.
We were two ghosts
sharing the same graveyard,
two shaky hands gripping glass
like it was the only thing
that ever stayed.

We wasn’t soulmates,
we was cellmates
trapped in a habit that felt like home,
spoon-fed poison calling it loyalty,
thinking rock bottom was softer
if you landed next to me.

You overdosed
but don’t think I didn’t.
I OD every night on could-have-beens,
on your last breath echoing
in the back of my throat.
I’m alive
but this ain’t living.
It’s survival with a heartbeat
too stubborn to quit.

We never ****** for love
we ****** to feel human
for five seconds
before the demons came back,
and the high turned cold.
I watched you sink
I lit the pipe,
I watched you drift,
I told myself I’d follow
but here I am
still feeding the same demon
with your name on its fangs.

We were never lovers.
We were addicts.
We mistook poison for forever
and you just left me
with the half-life
of a promise we never kept.

So when they ask,
I say we never loved
‘cause if we did,
maybe one of us
would still be here for real.