You live
How bout them bullets ain't slow you up
You ain't really die and we watched you grow up
At twelve months you took ya first steps
Awkwardly across the kitchen floor to your best
Your first breaths that we can call words
Were in ya fathers lap on November 23rd
And They were "live for me" and he did for you
Flipped to neutron and stayed inside the crib for you
And this commitment from ya father
Imparted a deep sense of value you'd forever harbor
And we were all so proud as we seen you gettin' smarter
And the bond grow deeper between a mother and a daughter
Cause you were not a martyr (you lived)
Find out, I was just a bad dream
Goodbye
At six you started reading whole books
At seven you knew how a brain looked
And could roughly describe all the different regions
Could tell when we were sick and even knew the reason
The world wasn't at peace
Gunfire every weekend
But you were hardly there
Cause you was always leaving
Field museum, planetarium, aquarium
You saw something special in that tank you were starin' in
And in those moments as a little
Girl you realized it was a bigger world
Bigger than the Southside
Bigger than Chicago
And you were bigger but still wanted on rims on ya car though
And big ass woofers in ya car door
So you could wang like ya daddy at the park eating sharks
Went to King where you were teased for being smart
Where you bumped into Hadiya teaching art.
You swill live forever
Find out, I was just a bad dream
Neither ever, nor never, goodbye
Neither ever, nor never, goodbye
Neither
At sixteen is when you got you scholarship
At twenty-two is when you got ya doctorate
Even now it's kinda hard to believe
But ya father taught you work hard and achieve
And you complied
Accepted by every medical school you applied
But the coolest thing is when they
Offered you that high paying slot you replied
"They need me in the hood" and that's where you reside
Free clinic, nobody denied
And that's where you heard the shots and quickly ran outside
And saw a man and van and a bleeding baby in his hands
Fading fast but you knew she could survive
Did everything you could to keep this girl alive
Stabilized until the ambulance arrived
And In that moment where you gave your
Help, bet you didn't know that you saved yourself
Fold down your hands, give me a sign
Hooked on your lies
Lay down next to me, don't listen when I scream
Bury your doubts and fall asleep
Lord have mercy
You live forever
Lord have mercy