**gob s*ite 64**

Let’s have it right, I’ve been around for time

Sitting on the naughty desk writing a thousand lines

That’s why you don’t know my face I was out of sight but

That’s about to change like a change of mind

I used to need peeps to make and mix beats

Used to need peeps to film and take pics

Never tried it, because I knew I’d be sh*t

I could write and rap bars and that was about it

But I’ve learned a couple of tricks and shoved ‘em up my sleeve

Might not be a wizard with it, but ce la vie

I’d rather have a crack, even if it’s crap

held back so much my lungs started to freeze

Leave a geezer swimming in a soup full of resentment

You’ll find him 40 years old swigging on a Super Tenants

Telling younger fellas back in the day he was a ‘sheller

Could’ve made it rain but lacked an umbrella

Not quite there but mate I’ve gone close

got a few grey hairs and a bunch of old flows

Miles on the clock, blisters on toes but a

Barrel load of ammo I’m ready to unload

- Took my time, I know, I’m so slow

Slow to roam, like sloths on the road but

It’s Tortoise and the Hare and yea my shell is solid

20 years of knowledge but loads I don’t know

- Hey ho hold tight my day O’s

Talking DTP, Micky T, KND, the shed the red Uno

those 6 by 9s, working 9 to 5

By night refining flows

Back seat of the car we spat bars

Laughed hard burnt holes in clothes from soapbar

Made tapes, made mistakes sunk a bunch of jars

Ran events with beats, bass and no guitars

Left home got lost on my own

Roamed around like a lone dog looking for a bone

Changed jobs and addresses like socks on toes

And when I got some dough and went and washed my clothes

Coins in the machine these 100 degree dreams

Went and shrunk so I pumped more pounds into these schemes

Scratch card fiends with flash-car dreams

But their cashcard means no credit for car-keys

Read a few books learnt a few things

Like people aint always as nice as they seem

And peeps can be cool when they might look mean

Or they can be thick as sh*t, even with a degree

Used to think they were smarter than me

‘Cos they lacked an accent and pronounced all their t’s

Dress sense neutral, rated PG

Never punched in the face or robbed when they were teens

But they seem entitled to skip ques

Like they never had to pay their dues

And they insist you listen to their views

And they want six months just to chill in Peru?!

-time don’t care about your talent,

Or your gift, or your grift, or your self-esteem

Time says deliver the goods, or take time

To get good before you make those demands on me

So do one you plum, disappear lively

go get youself some books from the library

develop your craft, do it nightly and

practise hard, but do it quietly

Been on the mic, since the end of the nineties

This here runs deep in my psyche

A whole crate of notebooks if you try me

I’m just getting started like kids in primary

(c) Paul Cree 2023