I want to make this a special tribute To a family that contradicts the concepts Heard the rules but wouldn't accept In addition, women-folk raised me In addition, I was full grown before I knew I came from a broken home Sent to live with my grandma down south When my uncles was leaving And my grandfather had just left for heaven They said and as every-ologist would certainly note I had no strong male figure right? But lily Scott was absolutely not your mail order room service type cast black grandmother I was moved in with her; temporarily, just until things were patched, 'Til this was patched and 'til that was patched Until I became at 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 The patch that held lily Scott who held me and like them 4 I became one more and I loved her from the absolute marrow of my bones And we was holdin' on, I come from a broken home She had more than the five senses She knew more than books could teach And raised everyone she touched just a little bit higher And all around her there was a natural sense As though she sensed what the stars say what the birds say What the wind and the clouds say A sensual soul and self that African sense And she raised me like she raised 4 of her own And I was hurt and scared and shocked when lily Scott left suddenly one night And they sent a limousine from heaven to take her to god, if there is one. So I knew she had gone And I came from a broken home.And so my life has been guided All the love I needed was provided And through my mothers sacrifices I saw where her life went To give more than birth to me, but life to me And this ain't one of the clichés about black women being strong Cause hell if you're weak, you're gone But life courage determined to do more than just survive And too many homes have a missing woman or man Without the feeling of missing love Maybe they are homes that are hurt But they are no real lives that hurt without reach But not broken Unless the homes of soldiers -stationed overseas Or lost in battles or broken Unless the homes of firemen, policemen, construction workers, seamen, railroad men, truckers, pilots Who lost their lives -but not what their lives stood for... Because men die, men lose, they are lost and they leave And so do women ... I came from what they called "a broken home" But they ever really called it "a house" They would have known how wrong they were We were working on our lives and our homes Dealing with what we had, not what we didn't have My life has been guided by women But because of them -I am the man. God bless you mama -and thank you.
