Chapter 1: Entrapment

I never had a fair chance at freedom
A fair chance at breathing the exhaled breath of trees
That once was green and inspired dreams
Giving you hope that the sky is the limit,
And that in this world you have a place in it.

Instead, I was forced to inhale the second hand oxygen
Of already dying brown leaves
Their death the green trees will never grieve
Because they are at a lower level with me
And they dishonor the leaves that decided to stay
And sway to the movement of the mother tree.

I never had a fair chance to drink of the clean still waters
That the Shepard would lead the white sheep to
Being the black sheep
I drank from raging rivers
Full of dirt and pollution
On both knees with my hands cupped
I sipped the urine of dehydrated oceans
Salty from the tears of those who suffered this fate before me.

I didn’t get the fair chance to frolic through the meadow
Like the free flying butterfly
Landing on and then smelling the sweet scent of the morning lily
As it experience absolute freedom under the sun’s heat.

But like a moth trapped in a dark closet
I fluttered my wings
Closed in between the four walls
Of the ghetto’s dark street
Looking for the light
So, I could see the graffiti painted rose
Since one wouldn’t grow through the concrete.
I never had a fair chance to escape the cruel gift of life
Being trapped in my mother’s poisonous womb
In the fetal position
And there is only one way out.