Brother Ali - Picket Fence Lyrics
I was up and out my mothers house at 17Been a grown ass married man ever sinceFamily reunions, I'm talked about but never seenCause I learned that some of them can be your nemesisGot a lot of scars on me, I'll now tell you the storiesIf, you promise not to take offenseHomie, sit back let hand bring the beat inI'll try to find a place that starts to make sense nowThe first time I was pushed out blindCold and *****, spanked on the ass to breatheAn immigrant from heaven on earth with a work visaI announce my self with gasping screamsBefore blightened and white supremacy, heighted my innocenceI was living out life behind the picket fenceHappy go lucky scared of no oneWith the only exception, I'm allergic to the sunDidn't know I had a image that a camera couldn't capture100% Allah's manufactureBut then came the laughter, and outside a batteredPicket fence shatteredI saw my self as bastard tagalong, harassed and spat uponBy the children of slave masters who passed it onThe saddest songs been sung at the hands of who I call the race from hellIts a disgrace from hellFell face first in the self hateBurst into tears when I hear my own hellish name cursedIf I seem timid, its only because every mirror that I saw back then had theearths ugliest human being in itAnd with that said, they would kick me till they got tired or I act deadAnd I, have to tell ya'll that the obvious partThat I always feel free when I'm talking to godAlone on the playground, Friday afternoonAnd the, old sister who hums gospel toonsI saw her noticed her getting closerShe approached me and put a knowing hand on my shoulderAnd looked my feelingsCause she looked at me in a way that adults very seldom look at childrenAnd with the wisdom only earned by yearsShe read my thoughts and she welled up with tears and said"You look the way you do because you're specialNot the short bus way, I mean that God's gonna test youAnd all of this pain is training for the day when youwill have to lead with the gift God gave to youGrown folks don't see it but the babies doAnd there's a chance that you can save a few"And time would prove that, she started my movementShe didn't tell me to take it - she told me to use itThe second time poppa ripped the womb open earlyAnd exposed me to the coldness life prematurelyWhere mom's love used to live, now housed denialAnd when that decayed, it made her bitter and spitefulBut me and my runaway, we share something specialRode into the sunset, can barely can tough the pedalsNo strings attached, screaming, "***** Geppetto"We may live in the gutter, but we cling to each otherA week before my son came, I caught a bad bounceAnd had to step to mom with my hands outAnd momma proved the two of us could not live in that houseShe lied to the police so they would throw us in the streetsAnd separating from you, is something that I feel I must doIts not that I don't love you, its more that I don't trust youIts been a year since I've seen a living relativeAnd it's just now that I'm starting to liveBut while I'm sitting here, choking on tears wishing that I didn't careFeeling all alone in this hemisphere, I swear upon everything I hold dearAnd then my wife come near, and I hear a voice whisper in my ear"You're going through all of this because you're specialNot no superstar shit, I mean that God had to test youAnd all of this pain has been training for the day when youwill lead us with the gift God gave to youYour parents might not see it but your babies doAnd there's a chance that you can save a few"And time will prove that, she started my movementShe didn't tell me to take it, she told me to use itSo I use it
