"Pop pop pop!"
Something a little girl hears
Mind so child like she looks out the window to see the firework show
Instead she's a man
Flashes of lights that weren't so nice
Little does she know that her neighbors are ducking on the ground
Holes in the house
Punctures in the cars
Guy speeds off into the night
Laying on the floor in fear
I run and duck to get my nephews
Crying and screaming
They don't know
They can't process what's happening
Not one week later same "man"
Comes and does it again
Blows shots at my house
And brings my family down

A young boy, a friend of mine
Told me he would call me right back
Little did I know
That was the last time id hear his voice
He went to a party
Went to go kick it
Chillin wit the homies
One fool comes in on that weak shit
He was slightly older
He was a "man" but only by law
Pulled out his piece
Dipped and let my homeboy bleed
Ran and hid
Quite the manly thing to do isn't it?
Rush my boy to the hospital
It's hard to say he didn't make it
Crying for days and nights, even weeks
He did not deserve this
I skipped school to be at his funeral
It tore me up to his family in tears
Hugging and holding our friends
I couldn't believe this day was already here

I knew this man
A family friend
He chilled with my dad
A smile I could never forget
When times were bad my parents gave him a hand
The last thing he said to me
"I would do anything for you fam"
A few days later my father gave me horrible news
Saying that he had passed
He had several wounds and died on scene
A few years went by
And I met his son
He cried to me saying he saw everything

I been saying the word man with quotations
Because the "men" who did these things
And brought this mess into our lives
Are simply not men at all
They hide behind a gun
Thinking it will protect their name
When men are supposed to be the protectors
And that can be a lot of pressure
I can understand the insecurities one may face
But that doesn't give you the right to take our family members away
And that goes for anyone
It's not just me and my stories
Thousands of people and thousands of heartbreaks
I hate this world we live in
We need guns to feel safe
When it's the bullets that are taking our people away