To The People

I'm crying about a friend who I won't see again

We didn't get into it. Our relationship wasn't wrecked.

This type of departure only comes with death.

And..it's so unpredictable, filling me with guilt.

Another ride home, another funeral trip.

I think it was fall break, the start of our junior year

When the reality of losing a peer was really real.

We gathered like grown folks, bunched in a church

Crying, hooting and hollering cuz this shit really fuckin hurts

Forever 18. Forever in you. Forever in me [#DontellJefferson]

I'm crying about a friend I wont see again

Seven years past and I am back for a repass.

We grew apart and changed friend circles

But I never assumed I would lose you to murder.

I felt like shit, like maybe there was something I could do

Like if we stayed friends maybe he wuda never beat on you.

We in the church boohooing, frontal lobe unclosed.

How we gonna process the weight of this loss?

Released some balloons and got back in my car [#MeganCooper think what you wanna think, I believe he killed her]

I'm crying about two friends I'll never see again

Two years have gone by, I'm 28 with a baby

Still living life aimless

Two overdoses in two months, with many more before

And many more to come.

When I heard yall passed my body grew numb

I smoked my first joint with you. I told my first jokes with you.

Yall didnt know eachother but the commonalities were clear

Misusing substances to get away from here.

Your funerals were missed and so are you. [#ORyanJones and #DylanRoybal who I met through #MeganCooper]

I'm crying about a friend who I won't see again

AND DAMMIT IM PISSED. It's 2020 and I should've come home for our high school reunion, I'd be remiss

From Twisters to cheerleaders to learning about water girl scholarships.

We weren't close at all but we had never fell out

We had lots of mutuals that kept us around [#RonnekaHampton]

I'm crying about a friend who I won't see again

We didn't get into but our relationship wasn't savored

You became a cop, I distanced myself..what a friendship failure

I stopped coming home, being in the mix - for fear of being judged for the life that I lived

You were so funny, sweet, and kind

A dull moment with you simply does not cross my mind

Now my heart aches with pain and the guilt is a mess

This type of departure only comes with death [#RyanHudson]

Forever 18, 23, 27, 29, 29 and 32. Forever in me. Forever in you.