wheeler st.
run, run
Here’s the day
some have said
would never come.
Pack your bags.
Now it’s time to run.
A simple set of lyrics that came to me in the writing process for “Wheeler St.” The inspiration is three fold.
If I’m remembering correctly it was at my wedding, where my mom told our gathered family and friends about how she was not always sure of where I would end up. Like any parent, I’m sure. But, what would happen to KB? She didn’t use those words exactly but she did speak to the uncertainty of me. As a young boy I don’t think I really made things easy for my parents. Not in a delinquent kind of way, but I remember mostly just taking things in. Watching and letting things happen to me. If anything ever came out of me, some kind of response, it was just tears. Happy tears and sad tears. Some of my clearest memories from childhood are of friends/family/classmates asking “why are you crying?” So fast forward a bit, and yeah I think my mom was maybe a little surprised and relieved that something worked out for me. A whole wedding? Not that she literally ever said the day “would never come,” but she and my dad were maybe never too certain.
There’s the blackness of it all too, right? Where’s a black boy to end up? Endless and limited possibilities all at once. It’s all we hear growing up. You can, but you can’t. How terrifying is that? I didn’t realize it at the time, but going to boarding school at fourteen is when I packed my bags. Don’t ask me how my parents made it work. I’m almost afraid to ask them myself, but they did. And despite the unknown they let me out. Run, run.
Winston-Salem, NC is home. 200 Wheeler St. is where my memory begins. There is a set of drums in that memory. There is a brother, sister, mom, and dad in that memory. There are cousins, aunts, and uncles in that memory. There are friends and neighbors in that memory. The color pink is in that memory. That house was pink! “Wheeler St.” is a reflection on my beginning, my middle exploration, my right now. It’s also a reflection on how this run that I’ve been on since age fourteen has kept and continues to keep me away from home. Listen here.
