Dotted Line

Dotted Line

A soul robbery
Mind placed along with others in their novelty
Branded by a number cuz I am now the government’s property
Praying upon the extreme blood rushing to stop
As I sign down where X marks the spot
Intellectually still in slavery, trying to finish eating the knowledge
off my master's plate
As they let money chain me and try to whip me into shape
Their going to take my pride as I hand over my freedom
10 years down the road I won't care enough to need 'em
As I sign on the dotted line, my power becomes limited
With a pen which it's ink that is considered venomous
Spills on the paper which is filled with capers that I must read with
my very eyes
The fine print which is disguised and minimized
Packed bags, and closely shaved cuts
It's time to kiss my family goodbye and to finally grow some guts
I hope there is honesty in every word of my commander and chief's speech
That a change is going to come and Iraq is out of reach
Fresh face 18 and no longer a minor
Makes me regret that I didn't move on to higher learning with my peers with a pencil and a binder
Looking on the brighter side, at least I'm not at home just laying
around on the couch
They say the sky's the limit but I can't see past the ceilings in my house
Just like the slave that I am going to be I plan to run
Run
Out run the government and it's sons
Also try to out run the bullets from the government’s guns
Run past the fields, then the swamps which is covered with fog
Then dive in the ancestral water to escape the government’s dogs
Cross borders, head north, look for the American dream which is for the paper
Look for a safe place, might even meet up with a Quaker
I can hear the government yelling "You can run but you can't hide though"
I previewing my future as if it was a slideshow
I will then need to wait for a proclamation
Bypass all the problems that my people has encountered in the past generations
Make my own way, in the same lane as Fredrick Douglas who looked down on rules that he felt was silly
I'm going to also need the remainder of my days to be a holiday like the lady they called Billie
I will also want to pay my dues, and not be treated like the other
Just my idol Hughes, I too am the darker brother
Where I am designated
I'm segregated in my own mind
Underestimating myself, self on self crimes
Don't go there, don't eat there, don’t drink there,
But for knowledge I'm starving, and thirsty
Some of these rules may have been passed, but mentally I am still given no mercy
They say higher learning is supposed to be the equalizer, but I am
still denied to drink from that fountain
So to tell a certain background, I feel I was sent by James Baldwin to go tell it on the mountain
Though I'm far from homosexual, I just want people to hear my every word
That's why I'm going to make it part of my mission to release Ms. Maya Angelou's caged bird
So us underdogs can sing, to put everyone in their right mind
Will I be giving up my future if I sign on that dotted line
When I leave for the air force
When I board upon the airport
When I sign with this lighted pen
To enter a world I wasn't invited in
But my destiny is to become a writer and change the world