To Eshaan, From the Distance Between Us

Eshaan,

Little king, spark in the storm,

Born in a world too cold, too worn

This life? It’s tangled, man.

Like roots under streets we don’t walk no more.

And yeah, this fam?

Looks sweet from the ‘Gram,

But up close thorns, bruh. Sharp and raw.

Don’t you ever carry blame like chains.

Nah, that weight?

That ain’t your strain.

Ask your mama.

Ask the time that ghosted like late-night trains..

The silence? Not your sin.

The distance? Ain’t your stain.

There’s a sickness in the bloodline,

Creepin’ like ivy over names and pain.

Passed down like hand-me-down trauma, Soft voices, hard truths, Cracked frames in grandma’s drama.

But hear me loud now:

You born pure. Still are.Whole like moonlight on broken glass. You don’t owe nobody nothin’. Not your breath,

Not your wins, Not the miracle of just bein’.

You’re yours, E.

Your strength? All you.

Your rise? That’s you, not their view. Don’t let ‘em shape your shine.To fit the mold they never broke out of.

Don’t let their noise remix your rhyme.

Yeah, your mama might talk ‘bout sacrifice,Throw stories like flags in a windstorm.

But listen Not all givin’ is holy.

She was young, She was tired,

And sometimes love shows up late...

Or not at all.

She might not see the hands that tried,Only the ghosts of her own mind.

And yo, manipulation?

Moves slick like smoke,

Twistin’ truth 'til it’s hard to breathe.

And our people?

Scattered like fall leaves in a storm,

Not ‘cause of you,

Never you.

But ‘cause poison don’t care who’s tryin’ to grow.

Still

I see you, little man.

I see that fire.

I see that boy I held when the world was quiet.

That soul that spoke before anybody told you who to be.

I love you, Eshaan.

Yeah, for real.

Every season, every year

If you reach for me,

I’m there.

Even in silence, even in the smoke,

Even when the fam split down the seams Of pride and pain and too much silence...

You ain’t that story.

You’re the break in the cycle.

You’re the storm turned sunrise.

You’re free.

You’re fire.

You’re never alone.