Role Models

Somebody tell us bout the way we living,
some brothers dead and some are sent to prison,
when I was young you couldn’t tell us different,
but then again you weren’t in our position,
look into the eyes of a teen who’s never had nothing,
smoking bongs and drinking mosey with the speaker pumping,
down the park 50 deep relocate to the beach
a hundred teens getting chased by them punk police
and it was all fun and games until these drugs came,
popping pills and sipping liquor till the sun came,
aint no body there to tell us from a man’s view,
I was snorting coke and selling drugs like a man do,
at least that’s what I thought,
I know that’s not the way I was taught
but there’s some things a single mother couldn’t teach us of course,
I learnt my lesson from the street and nearly paid the price,
overdosing in the park it nearly took my life,
and now I’m watching as a friend who’s lost it all to ice,
thinking will he ever get away from smoking glass pipes,
now he’s at the bottom, old friends forgot him,
tried to get away but every body tried to rob him,
weren’t no body there to guide him he just copied what he seen,
followed all the older kids he turned into a fiend,
so now I stop and think about my message to these teens,
aint no role model here just a brother with a dream
I just want to see a change

And everybody’s asking me to change,
I’m just trying to take away the pain,
everything that I was taught was in this bottle
all we know is what we see and we ain't had no role models

Old scars with new ways to cope,
old ways smoke weed pills and coke,
long days my mum seen it the most,
I was thinking bout my neck in a rope that’s why I can’t go back,
glad I got my life on track now I can finally be the father that I never had,
I keep my mind on my money so we can never be broke
and all my time because I know how much she needs a dad,
in a position, these kids always need a person to listen,
always thought I was alone cause we aint had no pot to piss in,
I was 16 with big dreams of mad living,
no role models just older cousins that’s drug dealing,
ice addicts and alcoholics in my building twenty thirty five that’s
the place that I got my life visions,
all I know is I’m gone keep with the facts,
I changed my life and I aint never going back,
I’ve gotta be that role model

And everybody’s asking me to change,
I’m just trying to take away the pain,
everything that I was taught was in this bottle
all we know is what we see and we ain't had no role models

The aim of this project is to share lived experiences of mental health via poetry. Therefore, some of the content may potentially trigger some readers. If you require mental health support or assistance, a list of free confidential 24/7 support lines can be found here. You are not alone in your journey.