An immigrant from Trinidad/
Now trying to raise four kids after separating from dad/
I just wanted my mom and my dad's love/
Even under the harm and the bad blood/
Age of seven, went to church for conveying heaven/
And observed how it worked, with the way the reverend/
Was balling with Cadillacs that cat was wack/
And I couldn't see past that like cataracts attacked/
To the gospel I was much opposed/
And it didn't make sense to me like I had a stuffy nose/
Though I questioned this new clown speaking/
This was you expressing your newfound freedom/
Plus the comb was there/
For busting up naps with it, whether asleep or combing hair/
In the middle of it all like a centerfold/
Integral, teaching me biblical principles/
I could hear your voice trailing on me/
Boys don't hit girls, while my sister's steady wailing on me/
Holding her arms as we would wrestle/
But it laid groundwork for understanding the weaker vessel/
Years later, I stand as a man/
And it left an impression like hands in the sand/
And I didn't recognize the obvious part of it/
I was being trained up, and not to depart from it/

-I reflect on your life, Mama/
All the ways you were repping the Christ, honor/
Ever since you had stepped in the light/
These are things that I witnessed/
And all the effects of the sights/-

I was just a live in slob/
Young and rebellious, hung with the fellas, you said either go to school or get
a job/
And it ain't got to be so deep/
It taught me if a man don't work, then he don't eat/
Being in the ghetto, where crime was incidental/
Moving to Maryland with you then was instrumental/
I learned to live/
Without God on a mission, going hard as collision, til I saw an alternative/
Remember how that preacher was/
God placed me here to find Him, though He's not far from each of us/
By grace I had regeneration/
You recommitted to Christ with rededication/
But now I'm realizing as such/
There's much value in all the lives that you touched/
Just exercising your spiritual muscles/
Which were profitable you were hospitable/

-I reflect on your life, Mama/
All the ways you were repping the Christ, honor/
Ever since you had stepped in the light/
These are things that I witnessed/
And all the effects of the sights/-

You were with me in my bottom stage/
Now here you are, giddy, cause I got engaged/
Fast forward, having thoughts would your life last/
Hospital bed, triple bypass, & quite sad/
You knew how to clear the gloom in the room up/
Who says Christians can't have a sense of humor/
Assured, awaiting your reward/
You knew whether you lived, or whether you died, you're the Lord's/
Yeah, you were near to heaven there/
But by God's grace, we were spared eleven years/
Battling, but nothing so challenging/
As when my dad got sick and I brought him to Maryland/
If I could somehow bottle your witness/
How you prayed with him and modeled forgiveness/
Now you are with the Lord who forgave us/
Face to face with our Savior/

-I reflect on your life, Mama/
All the ways you were repping the Christ, honor/
Ever since you had stepped in the light/
These are things that I witnessed/
And all the effects of the sights/-