I was raised,
in the outdoors.
Next to you and her.
One man holding a hand gun.
While She was giving birth.
To a younger boy to be just like you,
we still wonder what that's worth.
I wonder if you ever knew you was a role model to me first.
Some days I'd wake up in the morning, to see you in papers and the news.
While I'm looking in the mirror realizing I've got everything to prove.
You'd tell me;
You'll have the torch after me,
just grind hard and do you.
Which is funny now because I would only see myself in the rear view.

When they stood up,
And spoke out

About their experiences,
And daily trials

I too wanted to stand up,
And apologize.

But I did not.

I sat down.

And listened.

I'm proud to say that I am multiracial generational

A product of immigrants who make up America - all of their essence resides in me

Some of them helped build America, some helped making progress and change

Throughout the years, they all played a role in the American dream

I am descended from Africans, Native Americans, Europeans, and Asians

A multigenerational multiracial - I am more than what I seem

Chocolate is great
It's really neat
But, to be the color, it's bittersweet
This is the experience of a lifetime that Hersheys must undergo
To read, to be told, to hear
That it's almost good enough
Almost pretty enough, almost smart enough
Too reserved and mannered to be this and that
Tears down almost all confidence that Hershey has
It takes away it's natural state
Like a Hershey left in the heat
It takes a while for that Hershey to find beauty again within itself, to find a true acceptance to who it really is, and the discover it's identity
To understand that it won't always make ends meet
But that Hershey will overcome this phase
That made it's life a living maze
The Hershey will wake up
Look in the mirror and see they are somebody
with a cocked up head
will forget what everyone said
and the microaggression that became so macro will soon be irrelevant
That Hershey will see it's real identity to see a girl named Aliah

Physical exertion, that exhaustive feeling, pushing this broken body to its limits.

This is true freedom, for a moment all of the clutter unifies to defy annihilation

The whirlwinds of thought, ignite into a ferocious storm of gestalt intellect, racing to the end

Alas, the only goal on this horizon is a graveyard of   discarded memories, each step further until, all is forgotten

FINALLY
I've made it
As I throw my fist in the air
And show the world my widest smile
I rejoice with everything in me
For I, have finally made it
I let out the deep sigh
That I've been holding in
Since I crossed the starting line
I stand still, I stand firm
And I stand tall
For I, Joshua Humphries,
have finally made it
No more looking back
The point of destination has been reached
Didn't think I would make it
People threw knives
And words that cut me deep
But I went past the forks in the road
And with my head held high I went straight
For I, Josh Humphries
The one that even doubted himself,
Has finally made it
I traveled far,
And FINALLY,
After all the beams of sweat fell from my forehead,
And continued down to my eyes
I admit At first,
I couldn't tell if they were showers of sweat
or tears
BUT WHATEVER THEY WERE,
I pulled them away from my blinded eyes
And after rowing down my own streams
For I,
Have found love
For I am content,
I need no more than what I have
All I need now is you to be in your presence
The one that fills my cup,
And seems to always overflow
It's the one that always gives
And gives more than I need
It's the one that looks at a shattered boy,
And has the time to piece me,
Back together, but better
The one that greets me in the morning
The one that makes me stand taller
The one that makes me run farther
Streams, nor serpents, nor words
Can stop this,
I used to be infatuated with
The clothes,
But because of you,
The things that fuel and motivate me
Are seeing you, making goals,
And having dreams to focus on
I pray that someday in the future
My best friend will never become my enemy
I give you all of me,
Because it's all I can offer
As I'm here reciting this to you
I might be stumbling on my words,
****, I do stumble on my words a lotIt only happens when I speak from the heart,
Just know that you're one of the best things
To happen to me in my young life
So as I give the world my widest smile
And throw my fist in the air,
I give you the other one
And rejoice,
As I can finally say,
I made it,
I found, love