Simply Poetry

(25% of the couples in this country<br>are estimated to be in violent relationships)<br><br>(Listen to the hit) --> Ice Cube<br><br>(That is a fact) <br><br>(Listen to the hit) --> Ice Cube<br><br>[ VERSE 1: The Poetess ]<br>Growin up as a kid I never understood the things my dad did<br>Like hittin my mother, me and my brother hid<br>In the parlor from the chaos, the cryin and the cussin<br>The fightin and the fussin<br>I used to go to bed holdin my ears tight<br>Filled with fear when I hear moms and pops fight<br>I never quite understood what the reasons were<br>How could he love my mother if he kept on hittin her?<br>I don`t know, but what I do know is this<br>Love hurts when it`s comin from the throw of a fist<br>And the list goes on from the mental to the physical<br>Use of verbal abuse, beatdowns, it ain`t cool<br>It`s bad enough we got it rough in society<br>Opression and poverty, no need to be fightin e-<br>ach other, a brother hits a sister, and he`s a bigger nigga<br>He ain`t nothin if he gotta hit, pick a<br>Innocent victim three times smaller in size<br>Head honcho, macho in whose eyes?<br>Only a fool tries abuse to utilize <br>Phyisical force to control, hurt, brutalize<br>Time for change, to rearrange the chain of thought<br>Unball your fist and think of the pain was brought<br>To the hearts of your brother or your sis<br>Love hurts when it`s comin from the fist<br><br>[ Def Jef ]<br>Now I want you to think of six women that`s close to you<br>And I want you to think if somebody was beatin on em<br>What would you do?<br><br>[ VERSE 2: Def Jef ]<br>I wish my step pop would stop hittin on moms<br>She got bruises on her arm from protectin her face from harm<br>Bein done he looks at me and says, "What you`re seein, son<br>Is me disciplinin my woman<br>You`re gonna hate me for the rest of your life<br>But this is my wife"<br>And I`m thinkin I wanna stab him with a steak knife<br>Too little to interfere, I wish he would disappear<br>But he won`t, so I put the pillow over my ear in fear<br>Dreamin when I get to be a man I`ma stand up to him<br>If I see him hit her again I`ma do him<br>I encourage her to go, she says, "No<br>I love him, I stay"<br>"Mom, what you see in that idiot anyway?<br>He beats you and mistreats you<br>Daddy wouldn`t do that" <br>But she said: "Your daddy did it too"<br>Ain`t that much love in the world to be gettin bruised for<br>Used, abused or even singin the blues for<br>He`s addicted to inflictin abuse, he said he`ll quit<br>If he`s the one with the habit, then why you always takin the hit?<br>A weak later the same shit - I doubt it<br>I`m grown now, mommy, don`t even worry about it<br><br>(In 20% of child abuse cases a spouse will be involved in)<br><br>[ VERSE 3: The Poetess ]<br>I was twelve years old when daddy started to get rough<br>Puff in one hand, the other holdin a glass of that 80 proof stuff<br>He never got enough, I thought he was tough, but it was all a bluff<br>I tried to understand and got verbally beat down<br>But I thought one day he would come around<br>But man, oh man, was I mistaken<br>Nothing`s right in his life and the abuse I was takin<br>I was accused of things I never thought of<br>Good grace got no praise<br>But I got a lotta negative words thrown in my heart like a dart<br>With the point of steel<br>Killin me softly at his will<br>The big one came when I got the blame for<br>Not bein the joy of a boy that he aimed for<br>One day I came home, he was sittin in the chair by the front do`<br>Just waitin to let go<br>(Where you been all night, out hoein?)<br>He didn`t raise, rolled up in his gut, I got a blow<br>And that was it, the last hit, he`ll ever do<br>The pearl handle was popped and cocked and it blew<br>The only thing on my mind was payback, let`s say that<br>I`ve put an end to that madness and pray that<br>I can overcome what mentally dad did well<br>While I count the days in my padded cell<br><br>(Several women a day are killed by ah, battering)<br><br>(Listen to the hit) --> Ice Cube