Where I'm From

Where I'm From

  Because they ask only to never know. Because they
saw the Christian girl that was always sober they
always asked where I'm from.
  If I said this street and that, right
in the heart of City Heights. Where the Mejicanos
have birthday parties every week, in the nights
where no one sleeps, do you think they'd know
where I'm from?
  Where I'm from, San Diego, which comes to mind
whenever children play in the sprinklers on hot, summer
days, and bundle up in jackets on cold, winter nights.
  Where I'm from, schools have bad reputations
and students uphold them. Teachers hate schools
almost as much as the students that
don't want to come.
  Where I'm from babies are having babies.
Because everyone is pressured into having sex and
no one else resists.
Where I'm from, the poor are proud
and the rich are few. Twenty dollar jackets don't
compare to forty dollar shoes. Everyone uses
the five finger discount and no one seems
to loose.
  Where I'm from, popularity is everything
and the wary are picked last. They ridicule
the poor then ask them for money. They talk
the talk and never walk the walk.
  Where I'm from, you only go to church
if you're scared and praying is pointless. You
get funny looks for reading the Bible
and being saved is not vital.
  Where I'm from, you get stabbed in the
alley and shot down the block. To walk by
drunks is reason enough to get jumped, and
there is no one safe from getting mugged.
  Where I'm from, dreams of growing up
no longer include being a hero
but livin' past two-zero, and to have the good
life, you just have to sell drugs.
  Where I'm from, gangsta's and skata's
can chill at the park. Friendship comes with
the blunt and to have fun you just need to
be drunk.
  Where I'm from, a chance to see the stars
is rare, and livin' on your own is a breath
of fresh air.