We both said we would move on,
But our U-haul never came
and the baggage remained.

Now, when she’s yelling my name,
I’m still thinking about yours.

And when you’re taking selfies with him,
you can’t help but
see me in the picture still.

So if this love is still a Home,
then let’s leave the door unlocked.

And kick these ******* guests out.

When it hurts to move on
Just remember the pain
You felt hanging on.

I packed you up with packing tape
A box marked dreams deceased
Bubble wrapped old promises
We’d never get to keep

I moved you in a moving van
Between a sofa and a rug
Both smothered, covered in the dirt
Of all the holes we dug

And I stopped at a stop sign
One morning along the way
Opened the door the moving van
To think on the mess we made

And I left you on the roadside
A box among the trees
With an old red sweater
Somewhere along route I- 70

Its happening.
It happened.
Its over.

They say, you never really know what
someone else is going through,
and what we going through is real,
its the same for struggles too.
I know life is full of issues,
challenges, and obstacles,
but tell me, when you face to face with it,
what do you plan to do?

Are you gonna freeze up, or
do you plan to make a move?
If life is short, and time is money,
each second is valuable.
No time to waste, everyday,
choices I make are unthinkable.
They say tomorrow isn't promised, so
I'm blessed to have seen twenty-two.

My life is full of the ups and downs,
from a broken home,
I saw my mom abused
with bruises all around.
Her mental health dropped so low,
I cried out to God like "why" or "how"
Drugs did some damage to her brain.
It hurts to just look at her now
****...

That stuff showed me how not to be as a man.
I learned how not to treat a woman
or hurt her with my hands.
The look of fear in my sisters eyes
as they screamed and cried -
Our brains are semi-scarred,
It forever left us traumatized...

But I look at this man who caused us
so much pain and harm.
When he was 7, his mom was
stabbed to death; he held her in his arms.
His father wasn't around.
Jail became his childhood home.
I don't justify his actions, but
things happen that we'll never know...

They say, you never really know what
someone else is going through,
and what we going through is real,
its the same for struggles too.
I know life is full of issues,
challenges, and obstacles,
but tell me, when you face to face with it,
what do you plan to do?
[What's Your Move?]

XVII. Presently Pushing through the Pain

I travel through your brain waves
The static distorts your words
Emotions blow like pollen
Creating opposite reactions

Years of being a recipient
Finally I’m immune
‘‘Tis all fleeting you see
Shallow and brief engagements

What I seek was never outside
Never inside another either
‘‘Twas always beyond you and I
Somewhere deep and far