My friend and I were talking one day and he asked me,
"What do you think about the state of downtown?"

I thought about this question for a second and said...

"Genocide, homicide, one by one, taking life
Is this my, destiny, hard to tell, wait and see
Living so, rapidly, daily dice, casualties
Is this, inside of me, forming me, killing me
Spilling me, on the street, crying rose, concrete
Light 2 dark, where's the spark, lying minds, broken hearts
Red running, by my shoes, changing hues, downtown blues... "

He looked at me and sighed,
Then he looked in my eyes,
And he asked me slowly,
"What keeps you alive?"

Well...

"I've got the need to fly
I've got the given drive
Coming from God to live life
I want to repaint the sky
Making it reflect the times
Changing with the raining
The sunshine, I'm gazing
Straight into the eyes of Satan
Still I'm not wasting
Your life nor mine
I look at the barrel of my nine
Millimeter bite size of crime
I want to gain my entrance to my mind
The vault has been closed
So now I go and show
Myself to anyone who may help
Reduce my life sentence
Allow me my repentance
So I can one day reach heaven
And give back all your blessings
This earth isn't where I'm destined
I learned to respect him
Still I hold my smith and Wesson
And the bullets I'm side stepping
The criminals in the thoughts of the individual
Are growing to be pivotal
The rights are reciprocal
Between us still I refuse
To follow the new rules
I'll make the new path with my own tools
Yes some will laugh but my heart will prove true
And I'll be the one coming out on top of you

'What keeps me alive?'

Love, food, shoes, ties
Hate, water, arts, lies
Thinking, speaking,
Reaching, seasons
Bible, Torah, Quran, soul
Friends, family, a happy home
Shots from a glock missing my dome
Prayers daily in order to atone

For my sins
Paying dividends
Keeping my ends
Of all my deals
Thanking God for my meal
Thinking hard to repeal
The laws around here
Love lost in greeds spear
Wondering if we'll come near
Utopia or will we begin to cheer
The rebels in trouble
Condemning them as devils
As they shuffle through life
Unlike you they devise
New plans to reprimand
The doers and save the victims
Of the system, we need new world living
We need to pay respects to the dead
Save everyone who is left
Make sure the virus doesn't spread
From word of mouth to head
I'm trying to be a literary King
The one like Malcolm X and Martin Luther
A skinny latin male representing the whole future
Fighting for the souls of others
Helping to help each other
All our sisters and brothers
And the fathers and mothers
Representing an equal conscience
If we think and be honest
Come together and links arms
And never rest, beyond this
Is a war continuing that will end
I promise as a race of humans
That don't know what we're doing
We'll find the last
We'll funnel and make tunnels
Conquering all struggles
We'll grow kind and laugh
We'll still hate and feel wrath
But as I live life know that I'm glad
To join the will and blend the dreams of others
To build the narrow path."

He asked me what keeps me alive
Well it's as simple as that,

The narrow path.