The Game in a Shotgun Shell

Courage is not using
stereotypes as camouflage.
Tattoos as a way to scribble
over your uniqueness.

Filling in the blanks of your
soul with drugs will not spell
out happiness in your heart.

The world will tell you to go right
until all your left with is regret.
You listen, but wish you didn’t.

You wish you would have rubbed
the genie’s lamp of your dreams more,
but instead, they told you to
massage your demons.
“Because life is more about
lies and money than love and hope.”

And the truth is I may die a
fool in your eyes, but at least
I can say I never lived like one in mines.