Streets of Strangers 2

[Intro] [Verse 1] Forty-three years, a w*r beneath his skin, Hospital lights where his best days begin. Legos and laughter, trails through the pines, He built them a world while hooked to the lines. Opiate haze, a divorce court w*r, He fought to stay sober, but love turned to law. A backpack of meds, a heart full of scars, He whispered, “I’m here,” through prison bars. [Chorus] Now I walk these streets with my head hung low, Scared that my sons are the men I don’t know. Did they keep the joy, or just the pain? A Lego tower, or a storm in my name? I chose green leaves to bury the blame, But they called it a vice—not the fire that remains. [Verse 2] The gavel fell hard, seven years in the dust, A courtroom of ghosts where trust turned to rust. He traded the pills for a different kind of smoke, To outrun the reaper, but it shattered the yoke. Their mom spun a tale of a man lost in flames, They said, “Dad chose weed,” not the chemo’s cruel chains. Now their faces are shadows, their voices erased, He’s a stranger who loves them in an empty embrace. [Chorus] Now I walk these streets with my head hung low, Scared that my sons are the men I don’t know. Did they keep the joy, or just the pain? A Lego tower, or a storm in my name? I chose green leaves to bury the blame, But they called it a vice—not the fire that remains. [Verse 3] The trails grew quiet, the Xbox went cold, His anger once thunder, now a story untold. He maps every grocery aisle in dread, Could his boys pass by with a nod of the head? The mountains still whisper where their footprints once led, But he’s stuck in the fog of what’s done and what’s said. [Bridge] Does the good outweigh the cracks in the frame? Or is love just a ledger, a ledger of shame? He’s a flicker of campfire, a die-cast car, A “sorry” too late, and a sky full of stars. [Chorus] Now I walk these streets with my head hung low, Scared that my sons are the men I don’t know. Did they keep the joy, or just the pain? A Lego tower, or a storm in my name? I chose green leaves to bury the blame, But they called it a vice—not the fire that remains. [Verse 4] The years fold like paper, his hands shake their truth, He’s a soldier of silence, a man chasing proof. In a drawer by his bed, a Lego knight stands, A kingdom of memories he’ll never demand. Dear Cameron and Caleb, forgive me. I never meant to be the one you'd hate. Someday, I pray, you find a way back to me. Love, your Daddy..... [Outro]