To the boy in the streets,

Begging for sheets

And a buck,

Bad luck

Is all Lenny gets.

He fell hard and he’s stuck.

And he sweats at night

So tired from losing those fights.

He’s sleeping in the dark

Thinking bout what he’s to do with his life.

Back in school,

He was the cool kid

Hanging around.

He was smart, and kind,

And ready to replace senior class clown.

What a funny kid, shining

Sunny days till the end,

But the end came

When high school Lenny

Lost his best friend.

It took a toll on him,

Started popping pills for the pain.

Everyday he’d ask himself,

“Why couldn’t it have been me?

I should’ve helped him or stopped him

Didn’t know what was wrong

He wouldn’t be there in the coffin

If I’d helped him stay strong.”

But young Lenny felt the hurt

Like he got shoved in the dirt,

Didn’t know how or why

But he knew one thing for sure:

Life is a pain

And it’s not worth the try.

A few weeks from that day,

Lenny gave up on life.

He dropped out of school,

Got kicked out of the house at eighteen,

He was no longer cool,

Just a bum on the street.

He sold cans for money,

Spent the money on dope,

Education wasn’t a factor

Of this declining slope.

This hill was his life,

And he was falling so fast.

Didn’t know how or why

He was sleeping in trash.

His addiction got worse

And his lungs would decay,

But the drugs gave the illusion

That Lenny was okay.

Inside, he cries

And the city doesn’t care

We’re in the past tense,

But Lenny’s still  out there

Sometimes with a sign

And he’s holding a joint

He could’ve gotten more out of life

But he reached a breaking point

He cracked under pressure

And it never got better

So Lenny, consider this lyric a letter

Not just to you, but the youth

Who know all these streets

Just push on through,

And when you’re older you’ll see

Chew before you choke,

Swallow your pride, don’t be a fool

Say nope to dope;

Say cool to school.