To dance through the
negotiations of gods and men,
To pull the strings
tighter than the strings of your dress.

Adrift from hand to hand,
with fingertips soft as leather
and a head as empty as the city,
you delicately play your hand.

God has woven your souls,
or so the legend is told.
But somehow I find you four years later
With another man, and a country to rule.

You've spent so many hours,
So many days, wasting your time and tears
On a different kind of idiot.

You doubted yourself
And hated yourself
Because your father
Didn't cherish you.

It's time for the pain to stop.
It's time for you to realize
How amazing you are.
It's time for you to stop being a victim,
And start being a fighter.

Show him how wrong he is.
Showcase all of the fantastic things that you do.
Make him regret pushing you down.
Make him jealous of the people in your life.
Make him wish he would have stayed.

Let go of the broken little girl,
And make way for the strong queen
That you have become.

Dry the tears on your cheeks
And make room for the smiles
That will appear.

Give yourself the love
That he didn't give you.

Some may think it's arrogance,
Others, confidence...

But you will know that what you
Allow the world to see
Is strength.

Right off of the 7 train,
Irish Catholic schoolgirls spilling
out of Jahn's like marbles
Their plaid skirts against exposed brick
bellies full of kitchen sink

The produce stand next door
eggs .60 a dozen, milk one dollar
Now converted into a bodega
or maybe even a small
Muslim prayer room

I bought my first album
at a record store on 82nd
The brown paper bags, thin as bible pages
It spun on the Victrola in my
parents' Tudor

The yellowing wallpaper smelled of
my mom's Virginia Slims
And sounded of my dad's Vermouth
His own liver fried
with onions, just as he liked it

The true essence of a woman
has never truly been understood
From the Spanish demolishing our cultures
to the way that they are viewed and treated in the hood.

I don't like the use of the word *****
Whether you're rich or poor
upper or middle class
or a ******* lying in a ***** ditch

In our indigenous tribal times
women were respected, revered and held in a high regard
the damage from a European psychology
has pierced our mindsets and left men and society deeply scarred

Try to keep you dumb, barefoot, and pregnant in the kitchen wishing,
while he is out there acting a fool
trying to be a player straight fishing

I'm talking about a  species that not only can bear a life
but a being that can hold a job
help with homework, cook, and be a **** wife

Or maybe baby daddy was never really there
or maybe he's stuck in the judicial system
in a cell staring at the wall with a blank stare

Single strong mama doing it all by her self
playing the mother and father
being the comforter and still having to pull out the belt

Tu-pacs dear mama was real and said it the best
until you've grown up with a single mother
you're probably tripping like the rest

I love you, respect you
and truly understand your pain
don't trip mami, I see you and all that work
that you have put in is not in vain

Keep grinding and working hard
continue to do all that you can
I feel you're and got your back
I'm your number one fan

And if your man doesn't appreciate you
and treat you like the Queen that you are
My advice, ditch the punk, be on your own
or find a king that treats you like a true superstar.