Yeah our pathways in life are so often inadvertent That we're caught up in these patterns like we purchased the immersion The cycle begins, begin recursive I draw first blood, be the one to come with purpose Was nervous- had to make an enter-ance but eloquent Fighting through my writing had to sharpen up the pencil tip Seeking excellence in leveling the penmanship Relaxed a bit, opened up the editor and let it rip Eyes on the prize applied ego for the tarnish Never dreamed of rocking stages Vegas out to Cardiff I remember feeling alien, barely if a martian Turning from disheartened til I'm pulling out of darkness S were cathartic, breaking out the harness Ever-moving targets still remember why you started Until one day, you'll simply be a carcass One step to start this; until the end regardless Burning up the candlelight, focusing my line of sight Facing up to fight or flight, my options were to write and write Searching for a guiding light, wishing it was shining bright Feeling like it's smoke and mirrors amplifying signs of life (Hah) Took challenges at point blink Thirsty for a verse like we're fishing in an empty tank I spent hours on bars in bars before I ever drank Burning through the napkins still my pen tip was spilling ink Battled anybody, anywhere, at any place and time Always holding heat with a furnace fueled by plenty rhymes Parking lot, mall lobby, bus stop central line I augmented freestyle; hell, I invented prime Relentless on the hourly when anyone would start me Going toe to toe at Virginia house parties I was driven, and hope I'm never giving up But death comes for all of us, glad I got to live it up Bitter words spoken, the world lost focus Cold comfort of a pen, but it all felt hopeless I spoke up even with my voice so strained A hard way to live but I still maintained Life is pain, I used to say it as a joke Til I fell off stage whiling, left my left wrist broke Hard to cope. I used to sell CD-Rs Nowadays kids are like what the fucks a CD-R? My mind so scarred, flipped it onto paper A few strong words for the behavior of my maker Never been a faker, mix it up like a shaker Break it down to bits so you can light the grill and let it savor The flavor and I'm not even started on the mouth feel Break the fourth wall cause I keep it too real Birth til death, that's the way it's gotta be Till they got me under rocks labeled RIP