Yo Man Really

Yo... Man... Really? That word echoes, hangs heavy in the air/ You say "no," dismissive, a flippant affair/ But the air vibrates with possibilities, unseized/ Two "yeses" shimmering, carelessly released/ You could have been a builder, brick by brick, Instead, you're a spectator, watching dreams get sick/ Your girl she's riding ragged, a runaway train on crack's cruel track/ Little man in the back car set munching’ on a Big Mac/ Someone saw her screaming, a shattered, desperate plea/ Lost in the asphalt jungle, wanting to be free/ And you? You clutch your comfort, your convenient denial, Trading empathy for indifference/ wrapped in cold filial Loyalty to your dead stagnation/ your comfortable cage/ Help your girlfriend and baby boy find haven/ Don't mouth "impossible," "too hard," "not my fight," Two "yeses" could ignite a future, burning bright. Ya dig? You're missing the bassline, the fundamental beat, Lost in the noise of self, your own small, selfish feat. A viewer, not a doer, trapped in your sterile frame/ While the real-world bleeds truth, whispering your name. Lay low, brother, for a spell/ Drop the jazzy pretense, the horn's mournful moan/ Pawn that tenor sax, that symbol of a dream unearned/ Get a J.O.B., let the rusty gears be turned. 'Cause that soaring saxophone, it ain't singing for you/ Just a hollow echo, amplified in your mind's eye, man, Be a doer, not a viewer, step out of the haze, Learn the power of "yes," in a million different ways/ Say "yes" to the struggle, the mess, the inconvenient truth, Say "yes" to growth, to change, to building something for youth. Say "yes" to compassion, the hand reaching out in the dark, Find the "yes" inside you,