An adolescent youth at Philadelphia FIGHT had an impressive display of might.
He could have easily passed as an adult
Although he didn’t look the sight he shared a complex story of plight
And the many woes in his life that he’s had to make right.
He told me home is where the heart is, but that was where the start is
The black and blue, the twisted and cruel, the voices of the departed
Like the Jews who once were carted and detained, the inhumane to blame
Shamed, maimed and flamed, I was never ever the same —
Never ever the same.
Home is where the hatred is
Home is filled with pain and it
Might not be such a bad idea if I never, ever went home again.
Don’t stop this train, I never want to get off and go home again
The suffocating cocaine and mary jane, the rough terrain and all the drained
The best pain, the chest pain, the cerebral veins and the left brain
Please rescue me Peter Parker,
Free me from these whips and chains and take me from my stalker
Take me any direction, towards any destination
To reach salvation, be any other place in
The world that’s mundane, plain or even inane.
Home is where the hatred is
Home is filled with pain and it
Might not be such a bad idea if I never, ever went home again.
Let me wash myself of this marker, which has stained me three shades darker
Let me shed this weakness, which I was steeped in and it seeped in
Me, when I was only three, when they left me for three
Dollars, that crack rock which couldn’t have been any
Smaller, than me as toddler, an expected
Goner, as the clock tick-tocked I was almost no
Longer, like the faded pictures in chalk on the sidewalk
How shocked would be if they could talk to me now
If they could see me taller, see me stronger
If they knew I had honor
If they knew I became a scholar
If they knew I wasn’t a goner
Like they are now.
Home is where the hatred is
Home is filled with pain and it
Might not be such a bad idea if I never, ever went home again
His story wasn’t a plea but rather a decree
A testament of his willpower to escape his past and be free
An important lesson for all physicians to be
Awareness and compassion are the seeds
That dramatically improve the quality of care
When they blossom into trees.
Contributing Writer
Drexel University College of Medicine
Jason Roley is a second-year medical student at Drexel University College of Medicine (’18) and a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley (’12). He is interested in Addiction Psychiatry and passionate about working with vulnerable patient populations. Adventurous and open-minded, Jason not only enjoys an interdisciplinary approach to medicine but also life, emphasizing the mind body balance in every day living.