I lost too many names to a bottle and a powder,Phone ring late, every time it get louder.Grief in my chest, but I’m learning how to carry it,Love my three dogs more than folks, they ain’t scary with it. Miss my family, miss the days we could laugh free,Now I see ghosts every time that the past speak.Dogs bark at the corner like something in the hall,Shadows in the home make the whole night feel small. I be scared to go home when the sun go low,Too many memories in the rooms I know.Depression put a weight on my ribs like stone,Bipolar highs got me feeling far from home. Meth had me wired, crack had me chained down,Weed in the air just to quiet them strange sounds.I know I ain’t living how I pictured my potential,But I’m still here, so I know that my breath essential. Had thieves in my space, taking more than possessions,Trust got thin, I learned pain got lessons.I was stuck in addiction, hands cuffed to the habit,Trying to outrun hurt, but the hurt stayed savage. Sometimes the ghosts mess with my dogs, or it feel that way,They pace and they whine when the dark hit late.I pull them close, tell ’em, “We gon’ be okay,”’Cause they kept me alive on my worst damn days. Then I met somebody, changed the air in the room,Helped me more than anybody when I lived in the gloom.Now I smile more, even when the night long,Still mourn who I lost—but I’m fighting my fight strong. Three dogs at my feet, that’s a home when it’s cold,Heart been broke, but I’m rebuilding it gold.I ain’t perfect, I ain’t finished, I ain’t giving up—Had my soul in the dirt, now I’m digging it up.