After the mourning of the beasts until proven ghost,

The guilty until proven dead,

After the mindless melanin wars

And the struggle of those lost between the chocolate chipsand the milk,

After all of the adversities brought upon this city

And the routine I love you’s and be safe’s

because life tomorrow isn’t guaranteed today,

and after the precluding of her folks’ success and prosperity,

she still couldn’t bring herself to step foot on that plane.

Her gateway to a new life, new home, new city

that she could not bring herself to love as she did her own.

Her hometown that had raised her as one of its many children,

fed her with lessons that school couldn’t teach,

and worked as her cursed blessing in disguise. 

The struggles never ended but helped her in ways that her parents never intended.