Fifteen Soon 1-7-84

Give me the needle so I can dream my
reality
pushing death into my veins to give me
life
It is the only way I have ever known
how to live
trying to make things better than they
can ever be
even if it means lying and cheating
away my soul
I live by the rules of survival and escape,
running to die another way
give me the needle so I can make some
of my dreams seem real
let me pretend I am a king, president, or
at least equal to the next man
if I die, it is because I made the mistake
and went too far
people look at me and shake their heads,
they don’t care
they think I do this because I am black,
they will never understand,
it doesn’t matter; I don’t know why I do
it either, I will be okay I will be fifteen
soon.