My dear friend, how is life treating you?
Do you still watch the stars every night like we used to,
Or do you watch the ceiling in the dark like I do?

My dear friend, how is life treating you?
Do you still hum tunes when you get bored,  
Or do you think of me like I think of you when the lights go off?

My dear friend, how is life treating you?
Do you still cruise down the streets like we did,
Or do you walk alone, like I do, hoping that our paths would meet?

My dear friend, how is life treating you?
Do you still smile as bright,
Or do you now have to hide?

My dear friend, how is life treating you without me?
I hope you're not falling apart like I am without you beside me.

I'm an artist
My canvas is my life
I'll make everything beautiful
Through even the pain and strife.
Because isn't it the worst of times
That we look back and see
The vibrant colors, stories to tell
Painting our lives brightly?
Reds of passion
Blues for pain
Yellows on the nice days
Keeping out the rain.
My favorite days are purple
Or perhaps maybe green
Days full of mystery
Or in a forested ravine.
But whether days are good or bad,
Black, green, blue or even plaid,
After all is said and done
My life will be an amazing one!

I AM BLACK
The color of my skin
The roots of my hair
I AM BLACK
The roar of my voice
The power of my walk
I AM BLACK
The loose fit of my denim
The length of my shirt
I AM BLACK
The look in my eyes
The art on my body
I AM BLACK
The crimes I committed
The time I served
I AM BLACK
The way I think
The way I act
I AM BLACK
The jewelry I wear
The cars I drive
I AM BLACK
The down talk on me
The way I am judged
I AM BLACK
The times I was wrong
The times I was right
I AM BLACK
The mistakes I made
The path I chose
I AM BLACK
I was not a slave
But I know of slavery
I AM BLACK
The struggles I faced
The meals I missed
I AM BLACK
A high school drop out
And a street life mentality
I AM BLACK
I'm not a racist
But I am a survivor
I AM BLACK
I maybe ashamed of what I've done
But I am not ashamed of who I am
I AM BLACK
And I AM PROUD.

I have always had a wild imagination  
Especially when I was younger
A endless flow of questions
Of everything across the nation
I wanted reasons, causation
I wanted to know the foundation
The formation
About any human creation
I had this fixation
It helped me make relations
But at times ended in frustration
At times my questions seemingly
lingered in the air
And I always stared
At it Suspended
As if time stopped
But only for me
Until an answer appeared
Because I couldn't move on until I knew
But majority of the time
An answer never came
It caused me to boil in pain
And steam sizzled my thirst for knowledge even thought the heaviest rain
As if the world believed this was all some child's game
Each raindrop pounding against my body were punches against my soul
Droplet by droplet
I wanted to scream stop it
But then water filled my mouth from the sky's faucet
Like I never grew out of a child's fantasy