From the recording SCRIBBLED DREAMZ
Lyrics
I been talkin’
to the mirror
since I was a kid,
Rhymes on cassette,
paint on the wall,
beats in the kitchen.
Marines taught me discipline.
Life taught me hard lessons.
Now I’m forty
with plenty of scars
I’m still hungry
for all of the bars!
Small town nights,
headphones on,
I learned to breathe in rhythm,
Freestyled on a lullaby song
turned a chorus into wisdom.
Painted words on notebooks,
ink like
constellations,
Timing in my chest,
cadence
in my conversations.
I’d flip a country riff,
they'd call me
Rap Brooks,
dunno know if you get it
standing inside the fire
I would
loop a jazz piano,
make it mine,
Turn a gospel hum
into a bar
that cut through time.
Art teacher said
I had a way
with light
and shadow,
Poetry in margins,
every sentence had a battle.
Mama said be practical,
the world ain’t built on dreams,
But I built a fortress
out of metaphors and schemes.
Young me kept a promise,
whispered to the night,
“Someday I’ll be proud,
someday I’ll get it right.”
[Pre‑Chorus]
Boots on the ground,
I learned to stand and not to fall,
Salute the flag,
then salute the ghosts in the hall.
Years stacked like vinyl,
scratched but still they play,
I carried every lesson, every loss, every day.
[Chorus]
Started late but I’m the same light,
Burnin’ steady through the long fight.
Forty years, still got the hunger in my chest,
Late bloom, loud room — I’mma give it my best.
(Repeat or vary second time)
Deployed in my youth
to maps of something new
and midnight watches,
with loud booms
as I sat with my
m16 flat on my lap
Writing poems on the back of letters,
traded sleep for promises.
Came home with medals
and a suitcase full of silence,
Demons hiding in the closet,
with therapy and violence.
I learned to name the shadows
I want dead
learned to call them
by their truth,
me myself and I
this whiskey keeps me high
Studio nights,
outside
cheap lights,
I’d practice till dawn,
then go inside
put another coffee on.
I ain’t chasing clout,
OK maybe a little in my mouth
I’m chasing the meaning in the sound,
Every verse a confession,
every hook a battleground.
Late start don’t mean late finish,
it just means I’m patient,
I’m building a legacy in lines,
not chasing validation.
Boots on the ground, I learned to stand and not to fall,
Salute the flag, then salute the ghosts in the hall.
Years stacked like vinyl, scratched but still they play,
I carried every lesson, every loss, every day.
[Chorus]
Started late but I’m the same light,
Burnin’ steady through the long fight.
Forty years, still got the hunger in my chest,
Late bloom, loud room — I’mma give it my best.
No rewind, no regret, only lessons in the ledger,
Every scar is a lyric, every night made me better.
I’m not too old to start, I’m just seasoned for the climb!