Misplacement of Love
Born poor
I was born poor
Now I am rich
Don't let that statement mislead you
My financial status has not changed
On the streets of Newark
With no idea of the man whose sperm I came
To this day I would not know him if he tapped me in the shoulder
Not sure if it is still true
I would always say
If I ever met the man
I would give him the biggest hug
A son could give a dad
Then I would step back
And hit with everything I had
Sad part is other than DNA
There is only one or two people still alive in my life
That may be able to vouch for a claimer
That love was never deposited
But I am still rich
I only have faint memories of my younger days
It's unfortunate that ones I do have are not fond
Kindergarten to 5th grade I lived with my mom
In one of the roughest neighborhoods in newark
The streets stole my mother
As result some nights my sister and I laid in bed hungry
In the midst of the 5th grade school year
I came home one day and there was a lock on the day
Placed by the sheriff alone with a yellow paper taped to the door
Later I found out that was called eviction
What was boggling about that particular incident
Is my mother was on section 8
And the rent was $50
That love was never deposited
But I am still rich
I went to live with my grandparents
It was an easy transition
Being I was there most weekends anyway
The only grandmother I knew
Who was known as Mom by the entire family
But this was my mothers dads third wife
My grandfather was a provider
To do so he drove trucks over the road
With that it was not abnormal for him to be gone
Sometime two or three week stints
I am not saying there was no love there
It was just distant
I had uncles and cousins
One each that had great influence on my growth
The others perished before I was old enough to obtain anything useful
I was born poor
But now I am rich
Love is an emotion
An emotion is an outward expression of thought
The word holds no value
When actions do not align