Borrowed time

My life was over before it began

Mama use tell me… “boy you almost didn’t make it”

I was heading the wrong way up the birth canal

May be I was afraid of this world knowing the pain that my kind has felt throughout history

May be I was better off as a little angel flying through heaven’s nursery

But the outsiders insist that I break free from my time capsule

Which held me for 9 months

Within that time period I was nurtured by the upmost High

He told me stand strong but bend along with change

Like palm trees erected stories high with thin stalks and massive roots

Protect your soul from the serpents who slither below

I was called to duty before I had a chance to see the light

I was that statistical baby that should have not made it

The umbilical cord wrapped around my neck like a noose

My journey to this world has always been a fight

My mother slit below the belly as I spilled out

I probably stared at her before I recognized that thumping rhythm

The sound of her heart filled my ears

Or was it the smile she gave me even though she was just ripped open

A lifetime of pain is worth a second of beauty

My life officially started as a man on borrowed time

Some nights I can still feel that noose around my neck

I awake and check on my children

I am on borrowed time so I must make sure I protect and love mines