| I. Feel. |
| A. Little. |
| Apprehensive. |
| Talking to
|
| You you. |
| About. |
| My. |
| Life. |
| With. |
| My. |
| Own. |
| Voice
|
| Although. |
| I. Think. |
| People. |
| Will. |
| Relate. |
| And. |
| Understand
|
| Dade County
|
| Miami
|
| A baby boy, livin' in a hotel with his parents
|
| Mommy was a maid there
|
| Don’t really know what pops did but
|
| He was trainin' to be a locksmith
|
| We moved up the coast
|
| Back to where the grandparents lived
|
| Perhaps for cash
|
| I didn’t think to ask as a kid
|
| And I don’t where pops went, but things seemed stable
|
| Even when he left his keys on the table
|
| My single mom
|
| She was able to make it without relationships
|
| Every so often, pops would show up and babysit
|
| It never made me think about his day job a lot
|
| Until the day when my mom’s changed the locks
|
| In those days
|
| When he watched me, when I think back, in some ways
|
| Made up of coffee, six packs and gun play
|
| Pornography and projects, step siblings and half relatives
|
| But havin' kids is bad for business
|
| Girlfriends were the rage then
|
| Babies in the playpen
|
| Toddlers were forgotten in front of television stations
|
| It wasn’t just one way to say things
|
| Between the two households
|
| I out rode all types of combinations
|
| Breakin' these codes and peekin' through key holes
|
| Finger on the pulse, stethoscopes broke the needle
|
| Put my ear to the ground, you hear the pins drop
|
| Gears in the clock
|
| Turned like my stomach turned like the dial on a padlock
|
| Rhode Island was the backdrop
|
| The world was the oyster
|
| Crack the shell, hand the pearl over to the lawyer
|
| In family court I make judgments
|
| I’m a product of my father’s trade and my mother’s substance
|
| I. Feel. |
| A. Little. |
| Apprehensive. |
| Talking to
|
| You you. |
| About. |
| My. |
| Life. |
| With. |
| My. |
| Own. |
| Voice
|
| Although. |
| I. Think. |
| People. |
| Will. |
| Relate. |
| And. |
| Understand
|
| That kid weighs twelve pounds WITH my dick in his mouth |