Strive

I'm growing everyday, mark what I say
I'm tracing a path
From the past to the future
Gotta be my own woman, stand on my own two
Eat food, get paid despite what others do
To thine own self be loyal, true it is
I got pets, two cats, and they act just like kids
When they hungry they cop fits
And them collectors want money
So how I'ma let a strange up
And take that from me?
Burn my time and energy
Jerks ain't no friends to me
Could solitude be the remedy, Nah
I need love in my life, friends by my side
Live stimulation, banter, conversation
Good vibe relations, don't think I'm
Asking for much
But these things just don't fall out the sky
Some skunk be so krunk
It make me wanna spend my whole life
Hi float on a puff of smoke
And coast by lye multiply my ESP
And sharpen my focus
Things look clear now
They used to look hopeless

Don't stop striving, it's all to the good, baby
If you need guidance, take a minute and marinate
Who ya gonna help if you can't help yo'self?
Where you gonna go when there ain't no place left?

Some days I get a ray of
Understanding and the answers are clear
Next day it fades away like it was never here
Sometimes I'm inclined to believe
That time ain't stable or my mind not stable
I check and see if the rhymes still stable
Deal the cards and read my life off the table
Taste what I hate out the bottle
Goes down sweet when I swallow
Though it smells like contradiction
Ask, "Is this enriching my life?"
Inch by inch I get by
If I flinch and blink do I sink flesh and bone
My illest rhyme quoted on my tombstone even
When I'm called home
The words I scribe through time
Will make me live long

Don't stop striving, it's all to the good, baby
If you need guidance, take a minute and marinate
Who ya gonna help if you can't help yo'self?
Where you gonna go when there ain't no place left?
Who ya gonna help if you can't help yo'self?
Where you gonna go when there ain't no place left?

Bunk naysayers who pop junk and waste time
They don't embrace life and it shows
Kids I used to know even when I squint
Can barely place the face
Details time erase, years spent in space
Yo it's nothing personal
These days I don't even have
The strength to get emotional
Hold goals in perspective, make earnest effort
Post cards retrace my steps through global sections
Be connecting with folks
Over choice liquor toasts
Nothing to keep me back, but me
When I glance closely, analyze what my daddy told me
He took time to explain it
Learned from how he illustrated
Fire in my belly burn like a furnace
Desire in my eyes both stronger than pride
Concernless with the rest of them
Take lumps in stride
Aim to rank amongst the best of them
Scroll be the testament
Pray what I say: be relevant
To every single head in every tenement
Who wanna larger stake inside the jackpot to leverage
Ask for what you want and keep
Talking till you getting it, word

Don't stop striving, it's all to the good, baby
If you need guidance, take a minute and marinate
Who ya gonna help if you can't help yo'self?
Where you gonna go when there ain't no place left?
Who ya gonna help if you can't help yo'self?
Where you gonna go when there ain't no place left?