This moment is a melody, a simple memory
One back to the day when I saw you, for the first time
When I matched your voice to your indescribable rhyme
That day the first of many
When on a whim, I won
And because of that, I became one with the poetry I used to write
And I became new
Spilling the truth like it was the glass of milk I cried over yesterday
Broken promises and broken hearts
The things I've done wrong, and when I tried to just get along
You entered my life as a hero and a reigniter of passion
The poetry I once wrote was that of the past
My vocabulary is now much more vast,
Creating the illusion that I know what I am doing
When truly I am still trying to navigate the ebbs and flows
All the while still yearning to grow
This is for the times when you taught me to show; show who I am because of my past
This is for when you reminded me that others have it worse, that the crickets have arthritis, and that hurts
For the time you reminded me that I need to speak my mind, and say that this is my voice
When you reminded me that happiness and contentedness is the only thing I need, despite me sitting here filled with greed
I want this to stand for the dozens of times that I've walked a bridge wanting to jump,
But didn't, and instead wrote a poem
Because I heard your voice in the background,
I heard the strength you hold
And felt filled
So I wrote a poem
You tell me that atlantis is true
And that you and I are possibly on a mission of our own
We try to remember because we want to feel
For the years of nothingness we felt.
This is for the day I saw you live,
And I asked you how a young aspiring poet could become great
I ran outside and bought your CD, but only after you told me to write everyday
I wanted to hear you while I wrote
And as I write this, your voice fills my room
You just told me what I need to hear, that each slice of life is served with something sweet on the side
You remind me that there is something good coming from the storm
That perhaps the pain I've felt could help someone else just like you have helped me
You've helped me
You've inspired me
And I'm sure the eager sixteen year old probably wasn't your perfect idea of audience
Yet you were that depressed little girls crystal clear perfect picture of strength and role model.
You were the reason that that the same young girl wrote her life story as her first spoken word poem, the first one meant to be performed
You are the reason the girl read her dark history in a room full of over one hundred silent people
Expecting a miracle
When she could only deliver so much
You are also the reason I forget to rhyme
Because I can't get the words out in time
The first poet that I've related to,
The only one that I've ever felt connected to
Back when all I could see was darkness,
The poetry was my one escape
Listening through every somber bus ride, through each class,
Everyday for hours on end, your voice held me up, when I no longer could
Even when I knew I should
Your voice is an anthem to the broken
Hope for the hopeless, and strength for the weak
More often than not, your stories kept me alive,
Even when all seemed dead,
You reminded me that it wasn't simply in my head
I was given a safe haven through your tone
And I knew that I was never alone
My shame forgotten, and courage adopted, and the passion for the art form I love reunited
This is for the times you saved my life with your words
And the lessons you taught me that gave me self worth
Thank you Shane,
Because of you, my life has been changed
