It All Belonged to Me

love is a funny thing

I’ve been gone more years than I was ever here

I forgave everything

but I was way too young to know what I come from

I don’t go home now

I don’t feel allowed

I don’t let love save the day anymore

I still miss mid-day rain

know all the birds by name

some parts of me have changed, and I still need more

but I know where I walked

I know how I talked

it all belonged to me

Old Cutler’s canopy

in the shade of night there’s nowhere so divine

she won’t remember me

but I was shaped by the time I spent there, getting by

I don’t go home now

to any house or town

I don’t let love save the day anymore

I still miss Banyan trees

know where they used to be

some things are part of me, and I still need more

but I know where I walked

I know how I talked

everybody wants to shine too brightly

everybody wants to hold too tightly

everybody wants to say shit like, “be good to the ones you love, speak kindly”

but some of us are from the chasm echo

some of us have had to learn to let go

for some of us, staying alive means more than tending the flames of our elders’ egos

and I know where I walked

I know how I talked

you know that I know where I walked

I know how I talked

it all belonged to me

it all belonged to me