We live in a world
Where people have doubts
About what their governments are doing
About what they will be doing
About their health and well-being
We live in a world
Where trust isn’t a right
It is something we all want
But we can never have
We live in a world
Where we fight in endless wars
To see which nation is the strongest
And which nation is the weakest
We live in a world
Where people are crying from pain
People are suffering from hunger
Little children are without parents
We live in a world
Where little children have no food
Where they have no toys
Where they have no hope
Of living the lives of normal children
We live in a world
Where discrimination
Where racism
Where hatred rule our lives
We live in a world
Full of what ifs and maybes
Full of doubts of what the future holds
Full of fear of we have done
To cause all these problems
We live in a world
Where we hide ourselves from ourselves
We hide our true identities as nations
We hide our true identities as people
We hide our true identities from the world
We live in a world
Where we fear for our lives
Because bombs are bursting everywhere
Because we live our lives in our shadows
This is the world that we live in
And it’s time to break free
Break free from the chains
That is holding us down
Break free from the world that we live in

Take off that silly mask that
You wear every day and night
Stop hiding who you really are
From your friends
From your family
From the world
From yourself
Stop pretending to be the person
You want to be around other people
Stop hiding your flaws
Your mistakes
Your problems
Your past
Stop hiding yourself
Behind that silly mask that
You wear every day and night
You are not the same person
Behind that mask
You are a fake
And everyone can see that
You are fooling no one
When you wear that ugly mask
Stop fooling yourself into thinking
That this is the real you
Take off your silly mask
And show the world
Show your friends
Your family
Your peers
Show yourself the real you
Show you true colors
Let them shine through
That hideous mask that you hide behind
Have no shame in the person that you are
In the flaws that you have
In the problems that you have
Have no shame in the past
That you want to be known as the past
Take off your mask
And be proud of who you are
Be who you really are
Not the character you pretend to be
In this play call your life
Take off that mask
And be free with who you are
The truthful, real you

Forget about what other people say
About you
About how you’re dressed
About how you act
About how you present yourself.
Forget about people say
When you walk by them
When you try to speak
When you try to fit in
When you look for that
Older brother or older sister.
You’re your own you.
Forget about what people say
That you should’ve
That you could’ve
That you would’ve
That you didn’t do.
Forget about when people say
That you should’ve been like
Your sister
Your brother
Your mother
Your father
Your cousins
Your entire family.
You’re your own you.
Forget about what people do
To make them stand out
To make them better
To make them perfect
To make them fake.
Forget about what you hear in the news
About the best jobs
About the best medicine
About the best towns
About the best states
About the best nations.
You’re your own you.
Look into the mirror
And tell me
And tell the world
And tell yourself
Who you see staring back at you.
It’s not the fake people
It’s not your family
It’s not your relatives
It’s not the news.
The person staring back at you
Is the most perfect
Is the most intelligent
Is the most unique
Is the best.
You’re your own you.

We all have done something
That we feel bad about
That we feel sorry about
That we regret the most.
We all have done something
That we don’t wanna do again
That we don’t wanna see happen again
That we regret the most.
We all have looked back
On our actions
And we have decided
That what we have done
Have harmed our images
In the eyes of our friends and our peers.
Don’t live in the past.
Don’t yearn to live in the future.
Don’t look back on your past events.
Don’t look back on your past experiences.
Don’t plan for the future.
Don’t prepare for what ifs.
Don’t prepare for maybes.
Live with no regrets.
Don’t get mad at what you have done.
Don’t get mad at what you could’ve done.
Don’t get mad at what you would’ve done.
Don’t get sad at what you messed up on.
Don’t get sad at what you didn’t get to do.
Don’t get sad at what you have caused.
Live with no regrets.
Use these bad experiences
Use these bad events
As fuel for what you want to do now.
Focus on what you will do this morning.
Focus on what you will do this afternoon.
Focus on what you will do this evening.
Don’t look back.
Don’t look forward.
Live in the present times.
Live your life with no regrets.

This feeling inside of me
Is burning stronger
And stronger
And stronger
I tried to tell you how I feel
But I keep on growing weaker
And weaker
And weaker
Whenever our eyes meet
My heart sinks deeper and deeper
I yearn to be with you
Forever
And ever
I tried to say, “I love you”
But my voice keeps on getting fainter
And fainter
And fainter
My hands sweat with anxiety
And my mind is nowhere to be found
I search for that special someone
Near and far
Above and below
And she is standing there right in front of me
I feel like I wanna cry
I feel like I wanna die
I feel like I wanna scream
Because all I feel is love
But love has taken my voice and my heart
So instead I will wear my heart
I will wear my soul
I will wear my love
In red

“Do unto others as you
Would have them do unto you.”
The Golden Rule applies to everyone,
Every brother, sister, daughter, and son.
If treating people with respect
Is what everyone should live by,
Why don’t we say hello or hi?
What about your son, Lonnie?
Not feeding him is funny?
You watch him starve
And then you carve
Into his brain the image
Of Pain, Suffering, Damage.
You stand there, watching him suffer
Do you think you’re a good mother?
He cries from hunger and he cries from pain
And you tell him to shut up; he’s insane.
Poor, little Lonnie, your son, hasn’t taken a shower or a bath
For forty days and nights, but he’s staying quiet to avoid your wrath.
His clothes are torn and nonexistent
He’s not making a sound; he’s distant
From you and what you call being a mother
Because all that he needs is a big brother.
He looks in the mirror and all that he sees
Is a reflection of what ifs and maybes.
What if I was with a new family?
Maybe I can feel alive and feel free
To attend school and to get rid of these clothes
Then maybe I can turn these pages and close
This awful chapter in my young life
And avoid being stabbed with the knife
Of lack of respect and compassion
And this awful food called field ration
That you, my mom, told me was healthy
While you go out and get wealthy
And you spend that money on clothes and food
And whatever else that lifts up your mood.
What about me? I’m your own flesh and blood.
I feel like I’m being dragged through the mud
Of Pain and Suffering and no Respect.
Well you know mom, I’m done with the neglect.
I live by the Golden Rule and you will witness
My wrath unto you will be full of sweetness
Because mom, you know what they say around this town?
It is all Karma: What goes around, comes around.
I live by the Golden Rule, mom, what about you?
‘Cause in the end of the day, I’m no longer blue.

My dad taught me how to throw a baseball
And how to throw a football.
“Thanks, Daddy!”
Every time we walked back inside,
“Thanks, Daddy!”
He tried to teach me how to ride a bike.
Even though I fell…I lost count…
I still said, “Thanks, Daddy!”
Coaching track to little kids last summer
Brought back good memories from my childhood.
I remember Johnnie,
Little Johnnie with brown hair
And blue eyes
And the biggest smile a kid can have.
I see myself in him,
Minus the brown hair and blue eyes.
He always wanted to learn more of track
And I always wanted to coach him more.
“Coach David? Can you teach me the 200 meters?”
“Sure, Johnnie!”
He would answer with a “Thanks, Coach!”
I always see his mom dropping him off
And picking him up.
Every time after practice he would say, “Thanks, Coach!”
And all I can do is give a pat on his head
And say, “Good job, kid!”
Last day of the program, I gave him a medal
And you know what he said to me?
“Thanks, Daddy!”
I stood there as he ran to his mom
And I thought, “Yeah…thanks, Daddy!