My Hands Are Up Don’t Shoot

My hands are up

And it’s not theory for me

It’s the way my mother’s voice

Still trembles in my memory

When she said

Baby come home safe

It’s the way my uncle taught me

To keep my wallet on the dashboard

Before I even learned to drive

I stand here with my palms open

Showing the world everything

I’ve already lost

And everything I’m still trying to protect

The dreams I haven’t finished

The people who would break

If I didn’t make it back

The laughter I promised my niece

the next time I saw her

My hands are up

But my heart is the one exposed

Beating out every story

I never got to tell

Every prayer I whispered

On nights when the world felt

Too loud

Too sharp

Too ready

To mistake me for danger

Don’t shoot

Not because I’m perfect

But because I’m human

Because I’ve cried in the dark

Over things I never admitted

Because I’ve held friends

Who didn’t get the chance

To grow old

Because I’ve been trying

To love this world

Even when it forgets

To love me back

My hands are up

And I’m asking you to see

The boy I used to be

The man I’m still becoming

The soul that refuses

To stop reaching for light

Even when the night

Keeps reaching for me

Don’t shoot

I’m still here

And I’m still trying

To make it home