It seems like the largest homes
Have the most broken family.
Look at all the stuff, it can't fill the hole,
You are still alone, while I get a loan,
You can't get along, I am barely standing.
Afraid, they buy up safes and guns,
Afraid, while the children get bored and high off drugs.
They do it to escape their minds,
They buy designer drugs to pass the time.
Then once all the fun is done,
They go back to an empty mansion.
Return to responsibilities then remember,
They don't have them.

I represent a lower middle class,
People ask me what is that,
They don't understand.
Let me explain like this,
I don't qualify for assistance, I don't collect stamps,
I can't afford a *** to **** in,
I've got debt from the world just spinning.
I'm not upset, I keep my head to stay modest.
But I still feel the shackles of life, if I'm being honest.

Every person shakes your hand and smiles,
With a knife to hold, you sell your soul.
The tiny printed stamp goes on for miles.
They only let you get ahead once you break the bread,
That holds your morals and convictions,
Then turn and give the same hand shake,
To the next man who will listen.

They say pain is better than feeling nothing,
But nothing feels worse than pain.
She was just an innocent woman,
All that changed in a day,
Her husband came home upset.
They argued and he slapped her face to the floor.
She was left in shock,
started packing her things and out the door
He gained a level head, apologizing evermore.
She started making excuses and stayed
But if it ever happened again she swore,
She wouldn't live there anymore.

It's been years since that first time,
Just a couple bruises no one sees,
She keeps messing everything up,
So she deserves what she received.
A couple shots to her ribs,
A tight jab just above the knee.
Even if she wanted to go,
He says, he can always find me
"And I'm happy sometimes,
As long as I do everything perfectly"
But if she ever had a chance she swore,
She wouldn't live there anymore.

She wakes up early just to put on her face,
Staring into a mirror, breaking down with the shakes.
She can't count the bruises, the pain in every place.
Everyone knows the truth but, it seems too late.
She needs help but everywhere is out of reach,
She's broken down with a split lip affecting her speech.
Someday she would speak out, right then, she swore
She wouldn't live there anymore.

Then one night he went too far,
She was packing up her things,
He saw crimson, blood boiled to the core
She started pleading with every shot he bore.
They say pain is better than feeling nothing
But nothing feels worse than pain, she's sure.
As he took a final blow, she wasn't living anymore.

I'm sick of being the good guy,
With intentions that you may like.
I'm tired of being supportive,
Because sometimes you really aren't right.
I'm afraid if I open the cage,
The lid won't close quite as tight.
If I let this world see my rage,
They will see me in a different light.

I've wrote about my father before,
It's been a war that I've fought since ten
But I was sick of seeing a devil play victim,
So I wrote him one last letter
And deleted him out of my life again.
I can curse in times when I'm ******,
It's real ******* nice to be free. I promise,
the next person who thinks I'm looking for privilege,
When I talk of my allergies.
Will get uppercut so many times they will only look up to see,
I'm a survivor, not a victim
So kindly shove off if you'd please.

People love to be supportive,
They read one thing I wrote,
You should get published,
All these people would love it,
Would you buy a copy? Well, no.
But imagine who would!
You might make fortune and fame.
That's funny, I will save my money,
But I love the dreamy game
I should tell, I know who would buy it,
Even if I don't publish, my mother still loves me the same.

We all sell our soul,
We all sit with a price, you can deny it.
Try and hide it until the dice come to roll,
Shaking that hand, in the highest of highs,
You may notice that the opposing palm feels cold.
We all have crosses, three nails to keep hold.
Then pretend we have worth over another,
What did you feel was gold?

Did you take out six figures for education?
They said you'll find success,
Only to answer to another just like the rest.
Play a lottery daily, dreaming to make it big
While a government eats off your dollar
No wonder, Chihiro's parents turned to pigs.
Or maybe you sat behind a screen,
Writing like you hold the key
But really you're another pawn. Just like me.

They made money just to hold them up
They made money just to hold us down
If there isn't a hierarchy, why do some wear crowns?
Why do rich wage wars on recessive nights
And then point at the poor boy, "go fight"
Then make you a villain if you don't score.
By the time you catch a moment of that truth,
You realize it doesn't matter anymore.

"Hey how have you been?"
Let me think, with a smile,
Just say I am well, let's have a seat.
Here's a real answer, it just may take a while.
Spare me a minute if you could.

I've been selling drugs for six years,
About re-up another two,
I'm at the top of my game,
Minimum wage seems to go up,
I get compensated all the same.
I've been watching my worth diminish,
Another blow to the ego, another questioning why?
Another person asking why I even try.
I've been a hand me down, hand out case
And I'll never go back to that.

One person asking why my wife doesn't work
Another proud that we make that work.
No matter what path you take,
You'll disappoint someone all the same.
If you aren't a player in my life,
Kindly stay out of my lane.
That's no disrespect, I get your intentions,
Your opinion may prove better with wait
But if that's the case, I accept all my mistakes.

Some weeks I feel exhausted,
Some days I pass out in bed,
Most days poetic thoughts flood my head
But I can say I am well
I could say I'm broken, I could say I'm complete
I could fall over and cry
But most days I keep dancing to a beat
Even when it's been 12 hours on my feet
Call me anything but I'll never be weak.
I can feel it all simultaneously and all be true
But I guess that's enough about me,
How are you?

Remember when you would grab your favorite record?
The snaps and pops as the music would start,
Jumping up and down on the floor,
The dancing made the record hop,
Those scratches made the record stick
With that 45 adapter to capture that one song
That kept you spinning, spinning until gone.

Remember that cassette in your car
Over played to a point of obsession,
The tape would squeal to teach you that lesson.
The tape would unwind at the worst time.
Like a surgeon you grab a pencil
Spin it around until every piece of film
Hits the reel back into place.

Remember the CD you played,
Laying down in your bed
Did you look up at the ceiling?
I looked through the artwork instead.
Scratches only came while carrying it through life
Until something new comes into light.

I'm listening to these files,
Dragged and dropped to device
Every song sounds flawless,
Every song in lossless flac
But to let that original record keep spinning
I'd give it all back.

I wanted to write a masterpiece
Here's a page of my life,
What do you think of this?
Nobody is asking to read more
But if I didn't have these paper sheets
I don't think I'd be living anymore.
Here's the time I almost choked and died,
Ate the wrong thing and saw flat lines
And although I've written about it before,
Sometimes it feels like a war
So I write it again to pull that fear from my core.

I wanted to write a masterpiece
So my father might say he's proud
I spent my whole childhood working for it.
As an adult he gave me that line
And all i could feel was that he wasn't allowed.
My mother told me she was proud
And I felt like I was on skyscraper,
But when you're on top you can only go down.
No one ever speaks of your success
Until you're back broken on the ground.

I wanted to write a masterpiece
So here's 500 times I felt low
Here's another 500 I was able to grow
Here's every piece of life I've known.
Here's a masterpiece, I'll light it in flames
I'm just a human born to be lame
So keep the trophy I just wanted to play the game.
Get off that bench and quit the team,
We are all born from that same cloth
But I'm ready to rip the seams.

I wanted to be a masterpiece,
Not just a simple piece or a pawn
I want to be a masterpiece
Before they take me out and I'm gone.