Here's to the Throwbacks...

Here’s to the throwbacks…
To hot cousins and naïve friends,
To 1st kisses & hits & misses,
To missing friends and friends gone missing,
To the guys who never call and the girls who always fall,
To the moments we cherish and the moments that teach us how to cherish,
To the one who taught you how to drink and the drink that taught you you’ve had enough,
To the one who taught you how to think and the thought that set you free,
Gone head and hang tough (keep yo’ head up),
To the father and the absentee to the mother who tried be both he and she you were the best that you could be,
And to my Riders,
Yeah, my RODs, the one’s who aren’t afraid to tell me when my shit/stuff stinks…
This one’s for you.

Its for the haves and the have nots,
The should and the should nots,
The wants and the want knots in the pit of my stomach this one’s for you my long distant lover the way you hover sends shivers down my spine,
And yet we found in time that you were not given to rhythm or rhyme so I had to let you go because I’m partial to the flow.

Here’s to the cries for Daddy that still persist and the walls that help me to resist the pain,
To late night conversation and averted confrontations,
To long runs in the rain down on me let your love just fall like rain drops and pick-up trucks in the Indiana heat,
Hot cement beneath my feat runnin’ to the pool to get cool while guys like LL stand on the corner lickin’ their lips at fine women rockin’ their daisy dukes and shakin’ their hips in the “summer summer summer” time.

Cause I know that’s right,
Playing outside with the setting sun until the streets light come on,
Welcoming the night for what its worth,
Sitting on our bikes hidden on porches making prank calls telling our mom’s were staying at such and such’s home because we hate our own and I’d rather be with the block boys than be alone,
All the while thinking “how did we get here” cause nobody’s supposed be here,
But here is where we stood and there is where we promised to save our hood,
That we would give ourselves over for the common good cause Vacation Bible School in the summer made us feel like we should and urban missionaries told us we could have more if we wanted it we just gotta be good and since only Jesus can saves us we party through the weekend and go to church on Sunday
Monday we’re back to the grind until Friday comes and he messed with her and she messed with him and he messed she and she got with him,
She had 3 babies by the age of 14
He was in jail before he could even think
He was shot and killed before he met 18
He learned to deal and she learned to read
And she committed to the get the hell up out here
Got into those college test and said never again will I be up in this mess,
But these thoughts they persist and I’m lost in distress dislodged in egress,
Throwbacks that come back in memories and flashbacks set off by the right scents moments like movies that make you laugh and then lead you to repent
Cause I remember,
Looking into each other’s souls like mirrors wanting for something more ding dong ditchin’ on every door searching for love in all the wrong places and hiding our hearts in all the wrong the spaces knowing the scars disfigurin’ our faces and slashes on hearts only hope can resurface and its no wonder we didn’t all make it through this

So here’s to the throwbacks…
To all the little one’s that live in fear
To the boys who pack heat until their hearts are seared
To the girls who give in because they want them boys to care
To the grandma who preaches throughout the years,
Big Mama your words did not fall on deaf ears
To the mother who cries and tries and perseveres
To the father, my daddy, who hurts, your pain is sincere I know if you could you’d love to be here.

Its for the haves and the have nots,
The should and should nots,
The wants and the want knots in the pit of my stomach this is not the end though the moments may feels as if they are suspended in animation this is no forever situation we will move beyond the momentary irritation and be better for it
So release the flood gates our souls need irrigation for hope we cry out in lamentation cause we know its true, only Jesus can save us

So here’s to the throwbacks of cracked sidewalks where roses appear red elegance its beauty instills hope where there was fear that even where there’s ugly beauty will appear
So bloom my block boys and bloom my block girls these throwback they grow back to move forward overcoming the years