Release the Past.

"At some point you have to stop looking at the past, accept it for what it was, not is, but was and trust that whatever happened did so to enrich your life in some way, to bring you and only you lessons that could not be taught any other way. I understand there may be a lot of pain and hurt in your past, I get that I truly do but you can no longer be a victim to what has happened to you. Find the strength to release it and learn from it. This may be the hardest thing you will ever have to do in life but when you have done it nothing will be able to hold you back from the future that is awaiting you, and here’s the thing you could never have the future that is awaiting you without having the past that you have had. They are intrinsically bound together. Without one there would not be the other. It is the Ying to the Yang. Make peace with it because when you do you will find peace within yourself."

Brooklyn

Buildings of brick
Stick in my memory
The formation of my earliest memories
Consist of glass, gun, ash, and snow
Glass
Guns
Ash
Snow
Raising children aint easy
Especially in a city in the 90s
My mother got punched in the face on the street
Because she couldn't speak English
And gave off the "wrong" expression,
Inviting a blow to the face
And a final blow to the city of my birth, New York City, borough of Brooklyn

It's funny when stories turn to suffering
Words to pain
Knowledge to tears
When what was normalized and adjusted to causes great tension
And pain
Well, I've woken up that things are not normal anymore
And now I have to cope
Years later