To the Lady at the Hippodrome Cafe that Used to Call Me Kendrick

My entire life
untitled and unmastered 
Assumed to be a bastard 
Tapping feet 
like I’m happy feet 
to please massa 

But wait...

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Those double doors like a token 
Of my ever present evanescence 
Your smile bring me to life

Like I got royalty inside my DNA
Like my pain has drifted away 
Least for a millisecond 
I’m stressin,
caressing shells 
Wiping tears and recalling blessings 
My lesson? Lecture at 7
My weapon? Class at 11

Depression is revvin
from my mind to this glock eleven 

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But I choose to see the beauty
in the broken window pane 
there’s nuff pain for the both of us 
And I come to realize that heaven
don’t need no more despair 
Less it’s really like what them folks from ol
down yonder say 
Like dam Southern Baptist
then I reckon it ain’t real
Or I ain’t tryna be there no way 
All the same 

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I wanted to quit today 
Not quit this here racist piece of shit
school
The one bearing the name
of the Black man they ain’t let in
The one chiding me about papers,
free clinics,
FREE motherfuckin labor 

As if my brother ain’t wrapped in stray 
healthcare ain’t gone 
Like I ain’t rise at 5 to catch a train 
back at 7
puncture and blister my ears
of notice and comment 

Like I ain’t get the note
bout the rent being due Tuesday 
as if I get to comment bout this unlawful arrest 
Mirandize these nuts
These walls where niggas study to fit robes 
Sallie don’t give no paper
make it safer for niggas on the roads — 
Or even in her castle, to wit 

Nah, I wanna leave it all
Burn the entire thing to the ground 
And if a Tricky Dick goes limp as
The ashes crater, 
So be it 
Let that motherfucker burn 

And that was only the last night. As in, my roller coaster of emotions from 10 to just now. But I would open those doors after crossing Baltimore & Paca. And it’s like a Rodney King sized dumbbell had been lifted off my shoulders. 

The power of a contagious smile.
belief in my mind.
A whole buff chicken salad when I only had money for the half. 
A free drink.

I was hungry. You fed me. I was thirsty. You gave me drink. Blessed are the meek. I hope you inherit the earth. And if not, I’m a take it and share a little piece with you.