This Is Life, 2023.

 This Is Life

2023

This is the one

This is the year

In which excuses 

Fall flat along the roadside.

I'm on a path that 

Highlights all forward movements

and provides space for an occasional

inhale exhale.

Feel your feels 

And try to limit your 

spills.

My love is acoustic 

And has been 

The conductor of my life's 

Soundtrack

Since the Age of 25.

I have plans

Peaking through every window!

Plans that garner

A different type of

Perspective. 

I've always wanted to be the writer

Who

Articulated the right words

Better said than done!

Better to fight 

Than run.

But operating on the opposite side

Of The smoking Gun

Is the message I want to 

Reach my Son.

He doesn't yet

Understand

That this Country's not fully 

For him.

 

There are inbred doctrines

and laws 

That directly affect his existence.

Love is not the only

answer in such a society!

Being strategic in who your heart

Encounters 

Entertains the right

Perspective

Towards your own Peace.

Because That is the goal.

Enjoying life

And having Life

Understand the goals

You're walking towards 

Is the end-game.

All of that 

Harbouring on past

That still remains

Does nothing for your present 

Or future.  

I love my child

And this causes me to 

Suppress my wild.

But it's all for the good.

I'm grateful he wasn't raised in the Hood.  

Year Of Transitions

 Year Of Transitions

Click click Boom

And then my feet pushed off the Blocks

Of 2022

Pushing previous projects 

To the forefront

Of my mental production list. 

I felt like I was pulling ahead 

In the race against myself 

and what I could accomplish in a year

Or lifetime.

I was standing on one of the 

highest peaks 

Amongst other creators 

Yelling at them 

And whispering to my 

Own,

Future plans of progression

To climb currently

Unseen Mountains.

I just knew I'd built a far enough lead 

And had more time on my clock

Before life caught up with me  

To pierce my bubble 

With a prick of reality!

A Reality which 

Contradicts the reality we'd

Built over the last 15 years.

But still we walk

On a secured foundation 

But with shifting sands 

That'll inevitably change the direction 

Of our previously plotted out 

Plans of introspection.

And now I sit here trying to find

The connective tissue 

Between how I was raised in religion 

And how I now 

Want to raise Son 

To respect the past 

But also 

Find his own path 

And own beliefs without feeling the pressures

I felt.

Helping him find the middle ground 

between his Asian/Spanish roots 

And my Blackity Black causes for dispute.

Keeping him closer to the culture 

Keeps me up at night.

But despite 

All of these peripheral problem

I only have sight for making

Moves to maintain the progression of 

Our little Family

Going forward

In these quiet times at night!

IN 2023 

I look forward to seeing his face 

And understanding where I see his mother's

And where I see myself in her place.

Either way

It's going to be a different type of race

To outer-space

And I'm here for the journey. 

Let The Games Begin

Let The Games Begin 

Today's focus

is trained on 

Tomorrow's destination.

So, yeah

When situations 

and settings 

calls for my Persistent 

Clarity in the present,

I promise that 

time will not dictate 

the direction of my thoughts.

For fear 

of missing out on 

the process of a life lived.

I want to live damnit!

There's much to do

and "Miles to go before I Sleep".

So I'll keep pushing 

and aspiring to inspire 

folks to live free

in a setting 

derived from their own creativity.

For me,

2022 will be free of

curfews and restraints!

I plan to truly

Touch The Sky 

With My Words.

And when I'm done,

The heavens 

will respond 

to every storyline 

I've spun!

The Silver In 2020's Lining

 

The Silver In 2020's Lining

Mentally released 

From a cage of 

Societal expectations!

Living through the new revelations,

Found in the book 

Of revelations!

Now the whole 

Society's caged 

By a diagnosed Pandemic

That Raged

From Sea to Shining Sea.

It was a feeling 

that blanketed the world,

and while some felt restricted,

I sought out a silver-lining 

or oysters filled with pearls.

Let's put it in a way 

of understanding,

If your career was your identity 

Before the shut-down 

And now

You were furloughed,

Then the 

Weight of this was deeply felt.

Some of us creatives

Who worked day jobs,

Finally felt it 

As a Freedom 

For the first time since 

being an adult. 

But in this midst of this 

general revolt,

We all felt 

the outcries of 

humanity.

Thus 

creating a community 

Of different colors

Fighting against the inhumanity 

Of a Blue Wall.

I felt connected to it all,

As well

As I believe 

It affected Ya'll!

Yo,

The energy was off!

And it all stemmed from a universal 

Cough.

I heard it 

But stayed secluded, 

In my bubble of just telling stories.

The pressure of having 

To work a day job 

For the moment

Has evaporated 

And now

In it's place

Is the focus 

Of fostering my creative 

style of writing.

And negating 

The needs for financial security!

This is how 

I wanted to live life 

in all its purity. 

Stepping Towards Love and Growth

I'm here thinking that Love
should be the answer,

But then
other voices

puff their chests out and 

think that they have an answer that differs.

You're privi to your opinion 

but it doesn't mean I have to follow suit. 

The proof is in the out-come. 

Sometimes, taking yourself 

out of the equation 

helps in the growth 

of perspective. 

I'm not that old 

but age has not restricted me from 

understanding the nuances of 

person to person interactions. 

These tend to be the cornerstone 

of whether one adds to their inner circle,

Or lands on the scale of subtraction. 

I currently can't call it 

for I'm not fully there myself,

and I don't want to rely on such a crutch to propel me.

I've accepted that 

I'm okay with difference,
and am not trying to shut down 

the truth. 

I find my proof in the words of an obstacle not connected.
Who am I to question,

 just,
sit in it.

So I sit here,

trying to decipher the truth and because I love this 

craft so much, I don't feel the need to explain. 

Let us just grow together
especially in this New Year.

Age Of Peace and Understanding

It took words to bring me back.

It took words to bring me back to the Jekyll 

to my Hyde.

The pride's always been there

but

It's no longer a garment

I have to wear.

Now it just sits on shoulders

and plays games with my reactive state

like it's last name's Holder 

And I live in Texas.

But I digress,

Without the need to give 

my Alter-ego room to press

or

 entertain the thoughts 

of 

"Did I Impress"

You.

There's no more war 

between these opposing sides of my nature,

Just understanding 

that each has it's place 

and my daily state 

is not focused on fear 

of an calculated pace.

Age has given me comfortability

in viewing a future 

through the fractured glass of fragility.

It took words to bring me back to 

living for that moment.

The moment that's organic

and my nature 

which in the past has been Frantic

is laid to rest. 

All I experience from this point on

is pleasure in the Pure

and that energy is static.  

 Everything doesn't have to make sense,

I can just wade in the waters 

of not always controlling 

every aspect of my destiny 

and that's fine with me.

Mistakes = Teachable Moments

Allow a me a moment

to Inhale 2018 

and Exhale 2017

Understanding with full 

Totality 

The gravity of a

Past to Present ratio.

Miss-steps 

Do Not Last

And the Cash 

one can inherit 

from such an understanding 

Out-weighs

Anything taught to you in a class room.

A lesson as simple as

Any so-called "mistake"

Is just a teachable moment,

If

You keep your ears open

Your mind a scopin

and are able to 

maneuver pass 

The fear of Failure.

Every step 

Whether Missed or Calculated

Is Just a piece 

in a life's puzzle

to get one closer to the light.

A light so bright 

that it warms you on those

days 

when you want to retreat 

into yourself 

and hide from the world.

Experience shows 

that there's no true 

escape from the light,

"For whatever

happens in the Dark,

Will eventually to come to light."

So,

As for 2017 

It behaved as it should've,

slinging Peaks and Valleys

from 

corporate meeting 

to alleys,

but dwelling on either the 

high or the low 

cannot help the present.

Memory is still the key 

to free one-self 

from retracing past

faulty steps

Just be self-aware enough

to not allow these steps to be trapped 

in the quick sands 

of time.

That past fine,

potentially 

can keep one from bathing 

in the sublime waters of 2018

and living in the present.