SILENCED STREETS

Silenced Streets

when we walked the earth
we were the baddest of our breed
we lived our lives based on impunity
and governed by our own greed

the streets had become ours
we had neighborhoods claimed
but then the plague started
and the streets were regained

but this was not by the living
but by dead who walked the streets
their minds were upon our flesh
as they sunk in their teeth

even though we were gangsters
we took care of our towns
and when the people cried out
we would not let them frown

whatever they needed
form no matter what hood
we would take care of them
and do all that we could

this was our understanding
before this tragedy struck
and we would not let that change
we would be our neighbors luck

just one day after it started
the convention was held
from sixteen surviving flags
tensions suddenly swelled

but that's when the leaders spoke
bringing peace to the crowd
who had long lived with hatred
most were raised with from the ground

but this we had to overcome
for the people in our town and hood
we would all band together
this treaty was understood

then our plans were made
gather up all we could find
our warehouses would become fort hood's
as our powers were combined

once this was done
then the tougher part came
most would not make it back
survival was a rough game

we would free those left alive
who had been trapped in their homes
outside for them meant certain death
as their flesh was ripped from bone

over the next three weeks
no home was left unchecked
more lives were lost then saved
but our values were still kept

when it was all done
only six flags remained
but all of them lost their lives
for families left in vain

we banded together
in times when governments fell
and the gangsters well respected
became guardians of A.T.L.

but the saddest part was
the screams died down long before
and now that it was silent
we felt much less assured

from what i could tell
we were the last left alive
the radio had been silent
and this did not help our drive

we had three safe houses
labeled as red, white, and blue
a symbol of the lives lost
and what so many lived through

but by the third month
we lost contact with red
a mere four flags remained
but our blood to would be shed

but who would have thought
we would fall of our own hands
as guardians called themselves kings
and greed again showed in man

for reasons of caution
white and blue had combined
to be apart was no longer safe
the dead's numbers undefined

but that's where things fell apart
as the last of our leaders clashed
and while those they guarded pled
at each other they lashed

when the colors separated
governments formed under each
dictators called themselves blue
the democrats colors bleached

there were of course tensions
but one day sealed out fate's
as the blue shot at bleach
alerting miles of space

in this world one rule governed all
gun use was a resort taken last
the sounds attracts the dead
our lives at risk by the blast

after the shot all grew silent
as the moans outside grew
the sound of it was defining
and the stench like a rotting brew

suddenly nothing mattered
as we remembered our cause
the flags to us meant nothing
if our values would be lost

just three months before
we promised to protect
but all we did was go to war
and caused those we love neglect

so in those last moments
we looked each other in the eye
and when those doors busted down
together fighting we'd die

by the time they broke through
the building had been swarmed
they came in from every side
of this we would not be warned

when it was all said and done
we were but devoured flesh
failed as our people's guardians
our war had caused their deaths

yet our greed we did not realize
until when it mattered least
all it took was one blast
to reveal our inner beasts

so now we lie in pieces
the guardians of A.T.L.
gangsters sworn to protect
but murderers just as well

-Carlos "House" Gerardo

STATISTIC

Statistic

Music is life
And my life is music
This world is my muse
And I refuse to abuse it

Lyrics are my breath
The beat is my heart
And every time I exhale
I tear it apart

Word for word
My beat is my soul
Every lyric that I speak
One more story told

But give me a moment
Now hold up and wait
Because as of right now
I need one to think

Pause for that moment
Exhale and breath it in
Absorb all your emotions
And let them sink in

This is what I feel
This is my every day
This is how I project
And speak the words that I say

This is my po-et-ry
Although it may sound absurd
This is me breathing out
Expressing my spoken word

Welcome to the world
Of the Original P
Till the day of my death
Part of society

These words they run through my veins
Every fiber of my being
They are who I am
And everything I believe

Without them I would be gone
Another face one this rock
Just another sta-tis-tic
Someone that matters not

But I refuse to be that
To me po-et-ry’s all I got
To stand out in this world
And gain my first place spot

Among so many others
All those with the same dream
What separates them from them
Is my ab-il-a-ties

I can throw down a rhyme
As opposed to a fist
Because this gets more done
Than a gun and bullets

But then again
A bullet can change the world
Begin revolutions
And end them as well

But the bullet matters not
It comes down to who fires it
The motivation in their mind
And reason for the shit

But now I’m getting off track
You’ve gone to far in my mind
Let’s get back to the subject
And stop wasting time

That was a glimpse in mind
A spotlight at my muse
The thoughts that run through my head
The things that keep me amused

Yet you haven’t seen anything
For that you’ll have to wait
Because I trust no-one in my head
A subject up for debate

So with that said
I’ll close it out with this
One last thought that I’ll share
For you my mind’s goodbye kiss

If music is life
And my life is music
Do I move to my own beat
Or the world’s own amusement

Because that is what they expect
For me to rebel
And when I write things like this
Stereotypes speak for themselves

So am I a statistic
Swallowed by the machine
Because by just writing this
My nightmare’s spawned from a dream

-Carlos “House” Gerardo