Before I Die

I'd like the world to know what I thought of it;
The world inspires me to write and to open my eyes,
To stay open-minded and have my own opinion,
To look far even farther beyond the told lies.

Because that's what more than half the world is filled of,
The young only learning the qualities from their parents,
Whether it's negative qualities or positive ones,
Their parent's didn't care it's not rocket science.

And for the young teenagers who have consensual sex,
To know that it's obvious that they had failed mathematics,
Because it's cheaper to by a box of condoms,
Than grocery shopping for a baby that kicks.

Is it because they want attention and never got it?
Or, could it be that they were raped by an intruder?
Bill Cosby once said, "Hurt people will hurt people",
Don't dwell on your squabbles to hopefully find an answer.

Before I die, I'd like to see a drastic change in people,
In they way gang-bangers choose to live their life,
The way rap music has evolved from groovy beats;
To killing people, selling dope and beating their wife.

I'd like to see a new world, and a new president,
A president who won't back stab the American people,
Selling our only jobs to foreign countries-overseas,
A president who won't lie when swearing on the bible.

The hatred that flows in the attitudes is un-necessary,
What happened to the parents teaching their kids-
To love and see the beauty even in the ugly,
And instead of lying to just tell a joke; or fib.

I'm tired of the racial slurs and the racial discrimination,
This isn't the civil-rights era,it's 2008; a combined place,
A colorful place where we can all be finally free,
Maybe we should go back to marching, holding signs singing Amazing Grace.

Maybe that'll change the puzzled faces and confused minds.

I'd like the world to know just the kind of person I was,
How I started from the bottom and still moved forward,
"I still rise", just like Maya Angelou once said,
And how my long nights of prayers were finally answered.

I was born into a homeless life setting-homeless parents,
We lived in a Cadillac until I experienced four years of life,
I wore the same outfits every single day,
I dealt with the same crap; the same day to day strife.

Until one day a man came into our life and changed us forever,
He gave us a house, clothes to wear and food to eat,
I was even able to go to school and make friends,
Finally I had some brand new shoes to wear on my feet.

I was bullied because I was different,
Because I wasn't like them,
Because they could see my life in my eyes,
That's when I learned how to write my first poem.

I was raped on four different occasions,
I will never forget but I did forgive,
I knew that I had to do exactly that,
If I wanted to continue to breath; to live.

But here I am, still alive and still breathing,
I never gave up and went on a shooting spree,
Instead, I let the world spin in fast circles,
As I watched standing still like a hemlock tree.

That goes to show that if there is a will there is a way,
People can change the way that they live,
Starting right now; starting today,
My heart I rip out, to you; I will give.

I just wanted you to know Before I Die,
That I tried to succeed and I mastered that,
I never gave up when life did me wrong,
You can grow and be who ever, no matter where you're at.