only difference from the original is the beat i reach beneath the skin of the street with each step walking closer to my final destination of death when i m laying to rest i m only saving my breath the northwest fills the lungs heals the pain in my chest take six quarters out of the pocket and drop it in the box hop the 48th off to pay homage it stops often i jot my observations watching citizens walking off of the joe metropolitan proletarians and wayward sons with old filipino men speaking in they native tongues and the day has just begun greeted by the scent of a bum smelling something like beer barf and dung a brother into prose in the back all alone marinating in a pair of half broken headphones mumbling rhymes same time begin to pen mine appreciating god s design rewind sister reminds me of a smile in the back of my memory wonder if i see her again will she remember me i m not trying to holler i swear i m just weary of the way we hop a ride and just sit there and stare prepare for my 9 o clock work meeting a couple pale folk slide right by with no greeting but the people with my phenotype follow with a head nod up cause we acknowledge that this shit fucked up north of martin luther king a straight war zone detours through the concrete cranes and bulldozers no the hill is not over still every block got a coffee shop it s overkill focus know the deal dope to see khalil back the medicine is good again and the feeling of leaving and coming back to your hood again is priceless i write this our lives are in crisis most talk but don t walk the path of the righteous despite this i measure each step walking closer to my final destination of death when i m laying to rest i m only saving my breath the northwest fill the lungs heals the pain in my chest clutch the moment a transfer in my hands still listening looking out the window to the gold and the green and the sun might be shining but it s colder than it seems cause the weather s dialectical there s no in between in walks an old soul a first nation native cat chiseled like a totem pole no words as he stands and looks over us he gets off and says have a good day you foreigners i crack a smile one time for the acknowledgment northbound now we start to pick up more college kids they try to study on the ride to make up for the fact that they probably kicked it hard last night and i ponder if it s time to save up and get a car and pay for the gas that we re taking from the war i d miss all the colorful faces the places and spaces i ve embraced with the faith that i could rest and raise kids here even with these cats set tripping bringing 95 back again same old conditions from reagan to bush to clinton to bush the second no matter the neighborhood in the city you repping it s getting serious ya ll you can even hear the rebel call getting off leaving hella pieces on the walls seen it all sitting sideways with my townmates only place left where majority is brown faced now we headed downtown to trade our labor for cash i thank the navigator once and walk fast i walk past the next round of cats to jump on it locked in deep thought we ride around in silence and cross rizal bridge i watch each step walking closer to my final destination of death when i m laying to rest i m only saving my breath the northwest fills the lungs heals the pain in my chest i remain blessed stepping on rain with each step eyes heavy from the lack of the cousin of death when i m laying to rest i m only saving my breath the northwest fills the lungs ya ll you know the rest you know the rest you know the rest it s like that ya ll that ya ll it s like that ya ll that ya ll and that s all1