Slow Down

In the midst of my youth

I'd fallen for untruths

And the glamour of being seen on the outside,

Which led to me being unclean on the inside.

As if momma raised me to be out there and loose;

But didn't she, for she held the permissions for lock and for key?

Her fault, then, that I gave it up to him

And again she's the cause of me earning that nickname

And I suppose dad could be guilty, too, for pushing me into another man's arms

The same man who then sent me to another..and another did the same

Wow, and of all this I made it out somehow

Had to regroup my thoughts and retain my youth

With my nose up high, I dismissed my past

Because bullshit walks and money talks, and bullshit don't last

And here and now if I hear "hey Red, what it do?!"

I'm gonna keep on walking like I didn't hear you

And that's because that old girl is long gone

And she left behind those childish songs

Now I'm looking at our youth of today

Walking around with hickey's on their necks and guilt on their face

And I want to grab them and hold them

And sing them my song

Say, little girl don't wander off too far

And little boy, come on back home

Keep the stride of a child and a kid

It'll soon be over when you hit that adulthood bid

See..grown folks get caught in bills, payments, and taxes

And we're always too busy, never time for relaxing

Some of us have to play catch up

Cause when we were young, we weren't on task

And how the hell you gonna live today on forty thousand a year or less

And I'm just saying, once you have kids it's your responsibility to provide

And regardless if you weren't the only one that laid down, it was your choice so you can't hide it

And damn, you see "free" people out there, and you reminisce about back in the day

When you could just be tired and decide to sleep all damn day

But now you're on the grind, and it feels like you are digging your own grave

Remember, though, back then when you were ever so brave

Can you recall the first time you sipped your first beer

Or snuck kids in the house when your folks could not hear

And when you rolled your eyes at the teacher and told you she's not the boss of you

Remember those times when you screwed up in your youth

See, I remember those times and I remember them well

That's why I'm not so angry about it when I have to struggle to make bail

It's karma, so I take it, and pray for better days

And I know they will come, long as I still pray.

Copyright ©2007 Attica Lundy