What Are Bars To You?

What are bars to me?
My canvas painted with scars to see.
My mind’s body from limb to limb,
To tell my story from every part of me…
It’s a place of freedom whenever I feel captive,
Ironically…
It isn’t a place just for blacks and latinos,
But a sanctuary to leave our marks wherever we go…

So will I ever stop writing?
Nope!
Bars are the only things keeping my head high,
While allowing me to spark heat when times are cold.
Huffing,
Puffing through a life when wrapped in a pickle,
Flying high from the smoke my lungs blow…

They’re not a jail cell keeping me from my maximum potential.
It won’t lock me up for doing what I have to do in order to feed my temple.
A sanctuary it is!
For a mind once possessed by rotting Devils,
Giving me the opportunity to leave that score settled,
Instead of gripping a different type of metal!
Where I’d throw up shots from a barrel I try my hardest to avoid on so many levels…

Like,
Making sure I lock and load,
Shoulders shuffling back and fourth,
dumping clips,
Where the masses will witness! Your life reeling through your own eyes while it goes black,
Fin,
Finito…

So,
Bars are there to tame the beast
Inside.
When I’m bumped,
I apologize to my brethren,
Go home and write a line.
When my shoes are touched,
I apologize to my brethren,
Go home and write a rhyme…
Because my heart beat was a given gift,
Who am I to get mad at another just to take a life over pride?
So why not take what was given,
Spit my melodies on this paper while love overrides…

What are bars to you?