THREE HUNDRED AND SIXTY DEGREES

Glory was the days when you were hustling away;

Crack, cocaine, Marihuana, you name it; you had it made;

The street corners were your precious domain;

Needy people flourished around your presence craving for the essence that would ease their pain;

Dressed in suit and ties, like the aristocrats of modern times;

Education was still planted in mind;

Camouflaged like a chameleon, no one knew your real intentions;

To live the life of glamour, you sacrificed all that you could remember;

Up and down the iron horses you would travel;

Bus runs were your routine pedal; seven days a week you would struggle;

Wanting those presidents that have already been covered with pebbles;

Six feet under they humbled;

Rest assure the day came where you stumbled;

Confined between four walls and a couple of bars; you withered in storm;

Feeling lost and gone, you prayed and mourned;

As you continued through the days, years swiftly and rigorously clothed your fears;

Bearing time on the cross of injustice now became the crusade that you faced;

What a disgrace, family and friends gradually became displaced;

No more grace stood in place;

Now confronted with thoughts of change;

The transitional phase uprooted in flames;

Gallons of sweat flooded your pores as you submerged in rage;

The battle began between the four devils:

Lust, envy, hate, and jealousy of all that stood in you;

Three hundred and sixty degrees you screamed like a banshee;

Past actions of running the streets became your nightmares;

Can you go back, should you proceed, or should you let it be and flee?

Such misery clamped onto you to keep you company;

Still in all the day came where the trumpet would sound;

You thus psyched out all that surrounded you;

Only to listen out for that sweet melody;

Free at last, the meteorological climate gradually dissipated;

Feeling refined you journeyed on with your life;

Thinking about all the goals and aspirations that you had created;

The tools that would build your foundation continued to be mended;

New associates, new friends, new and old families, and a job that allowed you to be contented;

This is the glory that is now the milestone of your past;

What won't breake you will only make you stronger;

As you get older these thoughts of yours you will always remember;

Three hundred and sixty degrees brings forth a new chapter

written by Ricky Mitchell

mitche230@yahoo.com

copyright 2006