Ghost in a Cell

My gallery is haunted by these ghosts in my cell
They live on in memories but it’s no citadel
I’m scared they’ll disappear every time my screen blackens
I hope they're in the cloud and they repented for their actions
But I know you’re still here, I feel you with me
My cup runneth over with spirits until it’s empty
The body is a host and a host is a shell
But now you’re suited for glory. Adios and farewell

Wish you were here to hear what I’m writing now
Last time, it was your brother that I was writing bout
You was in the stu with me, sat in the chair I’m sitting in
Leaning toward the monitor, eyes closed while you listened in
To how I missed your brother, my father. Your eyes were glistening
Never seen either one of you cry. Now I was witnessing
Glitches in the matrix, breaking thru your conditioning
Thickened skin from life on the streets and years of imprisonment
Isn’t crazy how once you come home you’re never fully present
It’s like a part of you’s trapped in that cell and never left it
Upon your exit got locked in another cell it seems
Eternal life in these photos that’s on my celly screen
You might’ve escaped the pain and your worldly limits
But it’s ironic we use a cell to capture an image
So we latch to our village, every phone that we can pillage
With tangible memories, we can circle back and revisit

My gallery is haunted by these ghosts in my cell
They live on in memories but it’s no citadel
I’m scared they’ll disappear every time my screen blackens
I hope they're in the cloud and they repented for their actions
But I know you’re still here, I feel you with me
My cup runneth over with spirits until it’s empty
The body is a host and a host is a shell
But now you’re suited for glory. Adios and farewell

To my Uncle George, we wish you were here
Aunt Acelilia we wish you were here
Trugoy, Nujabes, J Dilla we wish you were here
To my father, I wish you were here
PH, Deckstream, Vice Verses… wish you were here
Young Gabriel wish you were here
Laline, Franky, my brother Junior wish you were here
Too many names but I wish you were here

Can’t let you go if I wanted to, I refuse to release you
Can’t text or call if I need you but at least I can still see you
So many numbers and faces, can’t bring myself to erase them
Voids that can’t be filled and no perfect fit to replace them
… Time done turned your iPhone to a mobile mausoleum
Or an android filled with memories of human beings
Like Motoko Kusanagi, show is over and I’m sorry
Life was the main event, hope we link at the after party
Scroll thru pics and videos of fam and friends, I’ll never see again
Music I’ve been consuming from legends since the age of 10
Songs I did with the homies that difficult to play again
All of them at their peak before their health began wavering
Why does the caged bird sing? So we remember them?
Scared to death to free’em ‘cause how else would we revisit them
Loads of content about you, still hard to be content
Wish you were physically here, so this is my lament

My gallery is haunted by these ghosts in my cell
They live on in memories but it’s no citadel
I’m scared they’ll disappear every time my screen blackens
I hope they're in the cloud and they repented for their actions
But I know you’re still here, I feel you with me
My cup runneth over with spirits until it’s empty
The body is a host and a host is a shell
But now you’re suited for glory. Adios and farewell