Mr. Africa Poetry Lounge!
Closer Then...
We were closer then sister and brother,
closer then father and mother.
A bond unheard of, a word undefined;
I would always be yours, you would always be mine.
No distance could tame the love that we shared
The way you for me your heart you would bear.
We grew up together in a world full of pain
Single mother, no father, we were one in the same.
Society didn't understand the strain that you carried-
A moms who sold dope, a pops who was buried.
But me, I felt you. I saw your tears.
Through the disillusionment of anger, I knew your fears.
The love you showcased through an opaque shelf,
How you worried about your family, but kept it to self.
The streets overtook you. Of course they looked good.
You grew up in the black suburbs, aka the hood.
Slangin came easy. Math was always your thang.
Your street knowledge was natural, encased in your brain.
With a newfound career, came a new found girl.
No longer was I the only one in your world.
All of a sudden, it was i who was filled with anger.
I felt my life slipping away all because of a stranger.
How could you do this? How could you make me suffer?
My emotions turned inward, instead of crying, I grew tougher.
"So what", I said. "She won't last,
but me I'm eternal, both your future and your past.
I was there when you had nothing.
I mean..no car, no friends,
when no one wanted to be bothered wih a dude with no ends."
And while I was losing it, its like you knew.
You pulled me to the side, and said "there's no replacing you."
I never really knew that you were my sun,
I thought that I was the independant one.
"Girl, you know I love you",
and thats all it took...
The first time you ever said it, man I was hooked.
Throughout your life you proved your words,
Never repeating them again, but they definitely were "heard."
From the beginning of time you were both my father and mother.
I never quite thought of you as simply my brother.
You were my world. You were all I had.
You stepped to the plate and became my dad.
My protector, my director, my spiritual lead,
and although you chose different, you helped me succeed.
When the phone call came that you had come to your end,
I felt like I lost more then just my best friend.
This was the person who held my hand through my first migraine,
who let me drive his girlfriends car for the first time in the rain,
who I got in trouble with for jumpping on the bed
The person who when I got a spanking said "Ma, spank me instead."
The man who clothed me and sometimes fed me,
who regardless of what never neglected me,
The man who gave me lunch money every single morning...
the man who died on me without any warning.
I love you Greg-always and forever.
Written by Gremeka Williams
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