All poems by Tupac Shakur were taken from the book entitled The Rose That
Grew From Concrete. The poems were originally written several years ago
when 2Pac was involved in a writers circle. Other members of this "circle"
were (his then manager) Leila Steinberg and former rap partner Ray Luv.
The participants would pick a topic and write a poem around it. His mother
Afeni and Leila have put this book together and the proceeds will go for
various community organizations.
In
the event of my Demise
when
my heart can beat no more
I
Hope I Die For A Principle
or
A Belief that I had Lived 4
I
will die Before My Time
Because
I feel the shadow's Depth
so
much I wanted 2 accomplish
before
I reached my Death
I
have come 2 grips with the possibility
and
wiped the last tear from My eyes
I
Loved All who were Positive
In
the event of my Demise
Did
you hear about the rose that grew from a crack in the concrete?
Proving
nature's law is wrong it learned to walk with out having feet.
Funny
it seems, but by keeping it's dreams, it learned to breathe fresh air.
Long
live the rose that grew from concrete when no one else ever cared.
Today
is filled with anger, fueled with hidden hate.
Scared
of being outkast, afraid of common fate.
Today
is build on tragedies which no one want's to face.
Nightmares
to humanity and morally disgraced.
Tonight
is filled with Rage, violence in the air.
Children
bred with ruthlessness cause no one at home cares.
Tonight
I lay my head down but the pressure never stops,
knowing
that my sanity content when I'm droped.
But
tomorrow I see change, a chance to build a new,
build
on spirit intent of heart and ideas based on truth.
Tomorrow
I wake with second wind and strong because of pride.
I
know I fought with all my heart to keep the dream alive.
They
could never understand
what
u set out 2 do
instead
they chose 2
ridicule
u
when
u got weak
they
loved the sight
of
your dimming
and
flickering starlight
How
could they understand what was so intricate
2
be loved by so many, so intimate
they
wanted 2 c your lifeless corpse
this
way u could not alter the course
of
ignorance that they have set
2
make my people forget
what
they have done for much 2 long
2
just forget and carry on
I
had loved u forever because of who u r
and
now I mourn our fallen star
A young
heart with an old soul
How
can there be peace?
How
can I be in the depths of solitude
When
there are two inside of me?
This
duo in me causes the perfect opportunity
To
learn and live twice as fast
As
those who accept simplicity...
Take
ones adversity
learn
from their misfortune
learn
from their pain
believe
in something
believe
in yourself
turn
adversity into ambition
now
blossom into wealth
Sometimes
when I'm alone
I
Cry,
Cause
I am on my own.
The
tears I cry are bitter and warm.
They
flow with life but take no form
I
Cry because my heart is torn.
I
find it difficult to carry on.
If
I had an ear to confiding,
I
would cry among my treasured friend,
but
who do you know that stops that long,
to
help another carry on.
The
world moves fast and it would rather pass by.
Then
to stop and see what makes one cry,
so
painful and sad.
And
sometimes...
I
Cry
and
no one cares about why
Father
forgive us for living
Why
are all my homies stuck in prison?
Barely
breathing, believing that this world is a prison
It's
like a ghetto we can never leave
A
broken rose giving bloom through the cracks of the concrete
So
many things for us to see
Things
to be
Our
history so full of tragedy and misery
To
all the homies who never made it home
The
dead peers i shed tattoed tears for when I'm alone
Picture
us inside a ghetto heaven
A
place to rest finding peace through this land of stress
In
my chest I feel pain come in sudden storms
A
life full of rain in this game watch for land thorns
Our
unborn never got to grow, never got to see what's next
In
this world filled with countless threats
I
thank God to find a way for our ghetto kids to breath
Show
a sign make us all believe
Only
God Can Judge 2pac...
Black
man, Black boy, Prince, Thug,
Revolutionary,
Symbol. They only see your
tattoos,
jewelry, and body language. They only
hear
your vulgar words, defiant messages, and
your
unavoidable controversy. They see your life
as
a threat, they comment "chickens came home
to
roost." They blame you for violence in
America,
they pour disgust on you and point the
finger
at you for problems in our families.
Black
man, Black boy, Prince, Thug,
Revolutionary,
Symbol. We see you as the dark
truth
they are scared to accept. We see you as the
voice
we sometimes could not find. We see you
as
a young Malcolm X. Alcohol, drugs, women
and
prison consumed you, as it did Brother
Malcolm.
Yet those that knew you, knew you
were
on the way out, you had seen the light and
moved
toward it. We felt your pain, so similar to
ours.
We felt your frustration, so similar to ours.
We
felt your anger, so similar to ours. You are an
unavoidable
realness. To Generation X, as they
describe
it, you are a 1996 Elvis, John Lennon,
Jimi
Hendricks, Sammy Davis, Ella Fitzgerald.
Those
that don't know, may never know. Those
that
do know, truly know that...
Only
God Can Judge You!
To
my Brotha, rest in peace, I'll never forget
what
you said.
Come
with me
You
will see
I'm
still alive
Nigga's
bout to die
Makaveli
is back wit a
Afro
and Shades
bout
to get dem Nigga's
Mob
Deep and
Piggy
smalls
bout
to blast yo
nigga
balls
It's
a Killuminati raid
on
all those niggas who
doughted
me
Yo
azz is fiend to die
of
4 shots
just
like me
I'm
fiend to "Bring tha Pain"
"Bomb
First" on those niggas from
the
old dayz
Can
you feel me, killuminati
I'm
a go "Against All Odds"
kill
you fools wit my 12 gage
I'm
goin "Krazy" in this
"White
Man's World"
I
lived the "Life of an Outlaw"
lived
and died in L.A.
Makaveli
is back and I'm
ready
to play
Chorus:
Makaveli
is back in dis bitch
bout
to kill all that snitched
Makaveli
is back and mad
He
got' em runin scared
(Makaveli
in background) They thought I was DEAD
A nigga
"Str8 Ballin"
from
west coast to east
"Picture
me Rollin" wit my
"Ambitionz
Az a Ridah"
"Me
and My Girlfriend" we still doin 85
wit
"All Eyes On Me"
Punks
I wonna see
you
deceased
I'm
lookin out for my homiez
"Just
Like Daddy"
All
these "Skandalouz" bitches
Wont
this dick you can't have it
You
can't ...do shit
Piggy
smalls ... I got ... yo bitch
You
know it's true P.I.G.
this
is "All About You"
Chorus
It's
"Blasphemy" the way some
niggas
be actin
You
got to "Hold ya Head" "Toss It Up"
and
step wit yo action
It's
time to throw a party on this
Westside
Cause
we got that kindda weed dat
blows
your mind
"2
Of Amerikaz Most Wanted" still busin the
rhymes
Cause
we been blowin up the spot since '95
Now
heres a little story
about
this thug named 2pac
back
in '96 he came up wit dis plot
Fake
my death to put my enemies at ease
Come
back and bomb on those niggas as
MAKAVELI
Chorus:(repeat
6x)
Makaveli
is back in dis bitch
don
killuminati is da shit
bout
to kill all that snitched
Ya'll
Bitches can't do shit
(Makaveli
talking in background)
On
Friday the 13th ya'll niggas laughed.
Laugh
now punk bitches.
Ya'll
niggas will backstab for anything.
All
ya'll. All ya'll. This is the killuminati dynasty.
King
Makaveli pronounces all you bitches dead.
Makaveli
on da rise.
Ya'll
niggas can go to hell.
HA
HA. Yea, I'm Mad at 'Cha .
Bitches.
Exit
Tupac Enter Makaveli!!!!!!!!
To
the rapper who makes much sense,
2Pac
Shakur don't you ever quit
Life
has its obstacles, God knows it does,
with
the rhymes you wrote it shoed
much
love. Some were positive and
some
were life as we saw it on
the
streets the we fight. now it's
time
to do your thing, get it together,
come
out and say: It's a new me now,
I've
saw the light, I must help my
young
brothers and sisters to save
their
life.
I'm
proud of you and the changes
you've
made.
stick
with your word, stay strong
and
brave