This is a quick piece I wrote in about 15-minutes when I thought I'd be performing for an open mic, which ended up getting cancelled. I thought I'd share since I haven't done that on here yet.
Cracked
I look up when I am walking,
Because I have a lot to see
More awaits to meet my eyes than the cracks on the concrete
Where the green still tries to grow,
But will always be obstructed
If you allow your eyes to wander enough, you may actually see something you appreciate
I'm convinced that people look down to avoid eye contact, to avoid saying hello
And not have to be asked "how are you doing?"
We rarely answer that question with more than a "good and you?" anyway
Or maybe people look down because they think they will find what they are looking for
A chance that the green will grow through the crack
But but our seeds weren't meant to grow here
This is not where they were meant to flourish
Or be nurtured to become a life that matters
This is where it's leaves and vines assimilate to what already dominants
You will not find what you are looking for looking down at our soil
I step on these cracks, this crack infested ground
Because that isn't what's cracking my mother's back
It's the hours she had to put in to make sure her children could achieve this so-called American Dream
The times she had to defend herself as a little girl, because she didn't speak inglés
That's why they call this place a melting pot, because they want us to melt to be one thing
And strip away what actually ever gave this place some cultura
This is a mosaic.
A place of ridged edges
Where we might just be lucky enough to not have our pieces cracked.
This is why you gotta look up and turn and smile
And say hello to the person who looks just like you.
Appreciate the people in the same section of your mosaic
Before they try to grow green from that too.
