“I once was a girl who used to dance

to pass the time

I was two,Watching my mother

groove to house music to unwind

Then my pops discovered that I could bust a rhyme

At 8 years old, I mastered the art of sublime

But at 9, all time stopped

“Your father was murdered” my heart dropped

Imagine seeing you’re Dad’s body in a hearse

Crying to God “What did I do

to deserve this curse?”

What makes it worse is that I felt responsible

For my father’s last breath at the hospital

He told me to tell Mom that

he was gone for the night

I smiled at him and said “Alright”

But I was too damn stuck and focused on TV

Couldn’t GET OUT my

seat and do what he told me

15 years I’ve held the pain and guilt

Of being the reason why my father was killed

So many times I’ve contemplated ending it all

Knife to the heart or a 3 story fall

I was appalled that

each attempt didn’t work

Made the pain in my heart feel 7x worse

A couple months before turning 10

I decided to dance and compete again

Repented for my sins

Then I came home with a Win

Suicide is not the wave I was meant to ride

No matter how tall or

strong the tide, You have to ride

Suicide is not the trend I was meant to follow

It would leave those behind

with a heart that’s hollow

Hard pill to swallow when

you have to accept the truth

Trauma and depression surrounds our youth

Poverty, jealousy, hate & negativity

4 forces that tried to put an end to me

Where will I be if I

succumbed to that energy?

In jail, on drugs, or a statistic of

teenage pregnancy

Resiliency and drive is how I sleep at night

I’ve made peace with my wrongs,

now it’s time to make it right”

-mari.

Performance History