Did you hear about the rose that grew
from a crack in the concrete?
Proving nature's law is wrong it
learned to walk with out having feet.
Funny it seems, but by keeping it's dreams,
it learned to breathe fresh air.
Long live the rose that grew from concrete
when no one else ever cared.
Tupac Shakur
There are times I wonder how I've managed to do it. No one really cared much. The few that did seemed so far away at times. No one tended after me or pulled at the weeds that threatened my existence. I was rarely watered or nourished and most times I was trampled on to the extent that my growth was stunted time after time. But I continued to reach for that sunlight. The few times it rained that beautiful cool rain I absorbed as much as I possibly could because I knew it never rained for long. And although the odds that I would make it seemed grim I continued to believe in the beauty that would one day bud and blossom. So I had no choice but to persevere. Keep tending to myself. Every once in a while I could feel it happening but something always happened that would make it hard to carry on. But I kept going all the while being encouraged by people like Tupac. You told me that I could be this rose as long as I kept my head up and when the road was hard to never give up. So I listened. Big Poppa told me that the sky was the limit and if I kept pressin on I could have what I wanted and be who I wanted. So I listened. Lauryn Hill told me that change would come eventually but she also told me I was never going to win if I wasn't right within. So I listened. And because of Wu... because of Wu I went through life knowing I was nothin to fuck with and pretending that time would change the ending. And every time I listened I waited. I knew if I could just be patient enough, the words of the wise ones would eventually ring true. And now here I am. The fresh air is nice Pac, thank you. I pressed on Poppa and you should know Lauryn I am finally starting to get right within. And thank you Wu, because of you I know that time will eventually give me the ending I deserve. You'd be proud to know I'm still nothin to fuck with :)