Life on Flint Street

At sixteen, I had it all, family, friends and life
They called me a gifted athlete, said my star burned bright
I had an easy smile the girls just couldn’t resist
They never saw all the cards clutched inside my fist
They only saw the outside…never looked past the door
Or they would have seen the rest of me…spread out on the floor

At eighteen, I made my choice…I set the demons free
I traded in my parent’s dreams…for a chance to be me
It was a fast ride I chose, full of screams and laughter
It still wasn’t enough…I begged to go faster!
I stopped doing circles and graduated to lines
It took me straight to prison where I nearly lost my mind

I was dying to try to be reborn
I was both lightning and thunder
All wrapped up in one fatal storm
Life wasn’t a circle for me it never made its rounds
I never got lost because I was never found

Jail didn’t cure my hungers or stop the pain
It just stoked the fires and fanned the flame
I ran straight toward hell looking for my prize
I lived my life on life’s terms never asking why
I cashed in my future…paid a lofty price
Exchanged it all for something even the devil would despise

I took my place on Flint Street when I was twenty-nine
A halfway house for addicts who’ve lost their place in line
It’s hard as steel…it’s a human mill
The last stop for the Ferris Wheel
I had dreams once to…dreams I killed
Oh, how I long for the days on a ball field

I was dying to try to be reborn
I was both lightning and thunder
All wrapped up in one fatal storm
Life wasn’t a circle for me it never made its rounds
I never got lost because I was never found

You have to be sharp with a razors edge
It’s fractured here…this life on the ledge
It’s a lonely place for trampled hearts
A sea of glass eyes that have lost their spark
No need to cry over milk you spilled
Just lick the blood from the battlefield

You can stand in line to drink your soup
Exchange your needles…join a group
Find a bed…say your prayers
Don’t complain…nobody cares
It has it’s price…the handouts aren’t free
They take the last of a man, your pride…they took me

I was dying to try to be reborn
I was both lightning and thunder
All wrapped up in one fatal storm
Life wasn’t a circle for me it never made its rounds
I never got lost because I was never found

At thirty eight I went back home
Nowhere left for my soul to roam
The tracks on my arms pointed to the truth
They led me back to the red clay dirt of my youth
Now it doesn’t stain my knees as I slide into base
Instead it’s thrown by a shovel into my face

I loved once hard and strong
I lost once…I couldn’t hold on
I gave up on life without a try
I lost my heart on one goodbye
I lost my looks, I lost my youth
I traded death for a taste of truth

I was dying to try to be reborn
I was both lightning and thunder
All wrapped up in one fatal storm
Life wasn’t a circle for me it never made its rounds
I never got lost because I was never found