Unravel And Ride

I was half asleep, dreamin’ ‘bout a dancer with a chipped tooth, Woke up to her voicemail, sang like a synth loop She said I’m cryptic, nah, baby, I’m just misused Fridge full of hot sauce, shoes in the fish tank Grew up with the pit bulls, not a wrist spank Tatted like a fifth grade desk, all mistakes Granny made a broom talk swept through a ghost state That’s why I float strange, T H C soda in my flask Shorty brought her pops up, he ain’t like me, that’s her past I ain’t tryna wife a forecast, I just let the storm pass Corner of her laugh curl up like a war flag Fried fish on a Tuesday, slidin’ through in moon suede Cousin caught a charge, now he readin’ like a Blu-Ray Oops, said Blu, nah, that don’t count, it’s just a movie Snapbacks and loose teeth, I’m too deep for groupies She said “you don’t text back,” I said, “you kind of spook me” I’m choosy with my silence, it’s like jazz with a mood swing Flippin’ thru a tarot in a Waffle House booth She asked my sign, I said, “Don’t worry, I move” She said, “You confusing,” I said, “You assume” Now we arguing ’bout God over grits and perfume She stormed off, I left a tip and a tune Heart broke once, now it singin’ like a loon I was off the shrooms, saw my shadow do a dance move Wrote it in the margin of a ticket from Cancun These days, I just paint with a drip like boudin Still ain’t got no deal, but my meals got mood in Mom said, “Pray more” I said, “Cool, I’ma do it” Got a cross on my neck and a blunt where the moon is Dreams got a groove and my ex tryna ruin it But I’m coolin’, like the other side of rude is Whipped cream on my collarbone, she call me “poet baby” Told her “hold your tone,” she still gon’ blow it crazy I been tip-toein’ thru trauma in some thrift Chucks Auntie taught me how to cuss ‘fore I could kick dust Pops played Al Green, told me, “love’ll get you clipped up” Now I keep my heart behind my teeth like a chipped cup Shit rough, life bend like a paper straw Lil bro doin’ TikToks in his ankle bracelet and drawls Said he still gon’ spin if they play that song Told him “keep your head, not your heater drawn” I been tryna cleanse, but my skin still sin-stained She wanna lick my brain, I said, “babe, it’s a wind game” Got lost in a Goodwill aisle, found a notebook Doodles from a child, looked like mine, yo, that shook me Wrote a verse right there by the folded up hoodies Got a text from my cousin, said he out and he book-free Told him, “Praise be,” now we planning a cook feast Fish fry, gator tail, cornmeal, no beef Uncle had a grill with the top missin’ Said the Lord saved him from a Glock mission I just laughed, told him, “man, we all lost different” Now I’m ridin’ in a car with a hole in the ceiling Speakers still slap though, bass got feelin’ Shorty in the passenger, braids like her momma Told me all her trauma over a beat from Saba I ain’t blink once, I’m used to the drama Everybody masked up, but the hurt too real I been prayin’ with my feet, I been marchin’ with my heels I been dancin’ with my ghosts, let ’em lead if they will Socks don’t match, but my thoughts all scattered Told shorty I’m a mess, she said, “Good, I’m a pattern” She had scars on her arms like a satellite map of Saturn We got lost in the dark, lit the night with our chatter She asked what I do, I said, “Mostly unravel” Rap, pray, travel, eat weird food in Seattle Pulled a poem from a napkin in the glovebox Read it with a smirk like, damn, this love knock But I still dodge it heart heavy like a fat man’s lunchbox Mama used to clean with the same broom I run blocks I was raised by the hiss of a frying pan And the click of a stove with a broke-off fan Now I write like a ghost in a rice field Sleepin’ on my floor like I might feel Poured wine on my Nikes by mistake, then I blessed ‘em Crumbs in my sheets, but I slept like confession My cousin got robbed by a reverend, no cap Now he only trust the weed and the zodiac map I don’t judge him, I just laugh life crooked like a busted kickstand Still duckin’ drama like a rich man in quicksand God told me, “speak even when your jaw tight” So I whisper in the dark like a moth light She said “Damn, you be deep” I said “Sometimes, on accident” Then I took a bite of apple pie and passed a mint Now the porch lights flicker like a pulse in the stew Neighbors playin’ Marvin while they argue ‘bout food I feel safe in the loop, I feel God in the groove I feel broke, but I’m rich in a way that don’t prove And I laugh at the pain, let it sit in my lap Rock it like a baby till it fade into nap I ain’t sayin’ I’m healed, but I ain’t what I was And that’s word to the wind and the mary jane in my blood