Old car. Old friends.
I’m not sure which I miss more.
The ride is different now.
But I still leave room.

The Cutlass isn’t real.
But I’ve driven it every night this week.
Same music. Same laugh from the back seat.
Same question in the rearview:
Where’d everybody go?

I don’t touch the radio.
It knows what to play.
Even silence has a soundtrack
when the ghosts know the route.

I’m not chasing a destination.
Just driving through versions of myself.
Sometimes I look at the city like a memory.
Sometimes it looks back

…

Two-tone Cutlass
I’m in the cut, cutting up
Two of my friends brothers with me
So you know what we on

Family matters
I don’t wanna learn that when we old
While we mobile, I’m tryna get it on the road
Roll with me, know with me — it’s real when it gets told

Walk with me, talk with me — there’s things you need to know
Ball with me, fall with me — that’s how we gonna grow
So if you down, I’ma pick you up swiftly up off the floor

We all eating — we don’t need reservations
You can reach me — no need for hesitation
No explanations needed
We used to be weeded

I don’t smoke no more
But I got heat if you need it
When it’s cold in summertime and life ain’t easy
Or when it’s wintertime and my wife getting heated

‘Cause I’m up on bullshit
I need someone to speak with — even if they disagree with
What I’m doing
If I don’t got good friends to correct me

Just ’cause he a yes man don’t mean he respect me
I need someone legit to kick it with when things get messy
Someone to express to — who ain’t tryna impress me
Or tryna expose me — ’cause you already know me

We can be on the phone and you gon’ know I’m being phony
How all these people around and I’m feeling lonely?
It’s so much of me that I ain’t comfortable showing
Like a fat kid at the beach — I got my guard up

But when I’m drowning in sorrow, who gon’ jump up in the water?
Or who gon’ be there for my daughter?
If I get caught up by the law and she don’t got a fucking father
If we ain’t there for our brothers, who gon’ bother?

I don’t want you around snakes without a gardener
To cut grass low when the weeds get thick
Let’s freeze this for a minute — we need a pic
Something we can look back on

So if we ever fall off, then we know we can get back on
I ain’t tryna make a sad song
This just a real-ass rap
Something that we can look back on
So if we ever fall off, we know we getting back on

Everything begins with God, and I’m seeking inspiration — while hopefully inspiring in the process.
The word “inspiration” has its roots in spirit.

Nowsthe7ime will be a collection of what I call 7imePieces — not exactly any one thing, but a mosaic of moments. A series of vignettes.
Today, I begin what feels like divine timing (ironically).

As I start writing this first post, I overhear two writers in a coffee shop.
They’re encouraging each other — talking about passion, doubt, jobs, life. The artist’s path.
I’m not part of their conversation, but somehow, I’m in it.

One of them shares how his own negativity pushed him to work harder — how doubt became fuel.
I feel that.
Artists often carry a hyper-awareness that turns into hesitation.
I didn’t say anything out loud.
But in my mind, I imagine one or both of them stumbling across this post, recognizing their own voices inside it.

Maybe they’ll remember this moment at Dessert Oasis and say,
"He was one of us."

And if you’ve stumbled onto this page — I hope you say the same.

That you’re one of us.
The ones who are just crazy enough to believe something real can come from a whisper, a thought, a mustard seed of faith.

The ones who want to show the world… something.
Our worth? Our thoughts?
Or maybe we just want to hold up a mirror — not for ourselves, but for others.

We stare into that mirror so hard it sometimes cracks — and in those breaks we see our families, old friends, classmates, lovers.
And maybe we’re just trying to show them that we see them.

Meanwhile, we wonder — do they see us?

I see you.
You, reading this.
Your heart beating because you relate in a way that makes you feel like you could’ve written it.

This is your moment.

Now is the 7ime.
To be seen.
To see.
To break through the mirror.
Because somewhere in the reflection, truth is longing to escape.Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.