No.187: If You Gotta Flex...The Guns Ain't There (Smoke & Mirrors)

people come 
and people go,
and I’ve seen
stress make (wo)men bold,
or broken,
or both,
the latter never gets old.
but I’ve been out of character lately,
losing my lessons, I know 
the hustler’s mindset
is quiet, I know it’s fine if
I come looking broke.
let the jokers flex, only God knows
the gold in my bank, 
the ungodly number of jokers in my deck,
the joke’s an insider and you still outside,
dipping your toes in the lake to see if this abyss is safe — 
it ain’t. I see the goosebumps on ya neck,
quit tryna pride your way through my space,
quit tryna stab me in the chest,
you ducking hits I never sent,
you feeling some kinda way ‘bout my silence, I guess — 
you and him and her and they and them,
I can’t stop to play the Daily Ego with you,
that’s disrespect to the beast I’ve spent 
ten years teaching how to not 
eat the necks
of sheep dressed liked men.

beware my silence,
it comes before the kill.
I see through you — 
you smile like the living, but walk and talk like the dead.
your mindset is a killswitch, and the timer is set,
the stench of insecurity is in your dress,
your self-doubt is the only thing bigger than your head,
quit while you’re behind, maybe try God, repent, 
there’s freedom on the other side, 
we’re all sinners — some just front about it less.
it’s not all about you — let that be
your first piece of wisdom.
‘cause shawty, I can see right through you — 
you’re all smoke and mirrors.