David Sanchez | If You Knew Me

David Sanchez, center front

If you knew me you would know

My father was a heroin addict until liquor took its place

He used to come home late and diss me in my face

My mother worked long-hours to support his habit

Until one day she had it and booted him out

My role model was gone and all I knew was his route

I started smoking and drinking

Shot my first gun without thinking

Bangin’ on city walls all the way to juvenile hall

Then I saw my first body drop

My heart stopped its original beat

Fear replaced by heat turned me into a numb human

For a while I couldn’t cry

My feelings died only to be revived in jail

Life without bail

But they left out a nail in my concrete coffin

My little brothers often saw me as their Pops

Cause I was all they knew

Soon enough they started drinking brew

and smoking marijuana too

I prayed in my cell every night before I went to sleep

In this wicked world I was in too deep

Dealing with my own demons

I questioned my old reasons for living

And started forgiving myself for what I felt

Change came in waves

I found a way to write and read to help my heart maintain

I’d seen my mother cry and bleed so I wanted to express that pain

My spirit was set free when I wrote my first poem

“I Know You Can Hear Me”

Now I can see clearly

Pen in my hand demanding the truth

From what lies buried in my youth