The Harlem Rose

You rapped half yourself around the world With outrageous rhythm and rhyme Did crime did time Bound yourself in chains Etched your name in fame While your other half remained unclaimed In a book of poetry You wrote in quiet moments 4 no 1 else 2 c Where now I find the depths And gentle beauty of your soul As every petal of your being Now unchained unfolds A Rose that grew from concrete Now I breathe your fragant breath A Man I never understood in life Now I understand in death. ~~~~~ Written: June 9, 2010 A tribute to: Tupac Shakur Inspired by: His book of poetry, 'The Rose that Grew From Concrete'. About Tupac: Tupac Amaru Shakur (June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), known by his stage names 2Pac (or simply Pac) and Makaveli, was an American rapper. Shakur has sold over 75 million albums worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists in the world.> In the United States alone he has sold 37.5 million records. Tupac Shakur’s most intimate and honest thoughts were uncovered only after his death with The Rose That Grew From Concrete, a collection of deeply personal poetry handwritten by Tupac in his own private notebooks over the course of his life - a mirror into his enigmatic world and its many contradictions written from the time he was 19.