February 2025

I have learned so much from growing older, I understand more, I am a bit kinder, A bit more forgiving of past hurts. I realize

You embraced me first, In the shades of our beautiful house, The house that marked the start of a saddening journey, Under the daylight sky,

Who to blame? Who to blame? I, the bearer of blame, At your service, Ready to shoulder the weight of wrongs, To apologize for sins

Staring at your puffy face in the cot, I realize all the hurt I’ve been carrying in my heart. Forgive me, my dear child; I

Because I am my mother’s daughter, I have learned to extend myself; Make sure everyone is comfortable, Everyone but me. Because I am my father’s

I found an unlikely foe in the mirror, Cruel judgments every time I showed it my face, It revealed not the boy I could become,

Voices calling late at night, a shadow’s terror, The broken trust and the love so dear. A delight and thus a humble soul, A childhood

Happy faces plastered on the living room wall. Must be nice because I can’t relate at all. Y’all actually went to the studio and did

The smile of a man, Sometimes deceiving, Unable to tell when it is fake or real, A mindset I had at age 12. Dreams held

If I had 13 reasons You’d be all of them. For I was just 8 8 With this burden to carry. Tell me I was