Raise A Standard

It takes a village to raise a child 

It takes a village to raise a mother 

It takes a village to raise a father 

It takes a village to raise a standard. 

Tradition locks around our ankles 

Shackles to the past 

Telling us if it’s not broken 

There’s no reason to fix it, 

But now it has become a tradition 

To be broken 

And to be self reliant 

So we do not help each other fix ourselves, 

Tradition sticks to us, 

Smears over us, 

Screams at us, 

That we are fine 

Nothing needs to change. 

It’s not broken don’t fix it- 

It takes a village to raise a standard. 

Culture breathes hot on our necks 

And pressures us 

And conforms us 

Into its image 

Wanting us to look the same, 

Culture preaches change

But just paints tradition a different color, 

Deceiving us into thinking 

We have fixed something broken- 

But we are still so self reliant, 

We cannot fix all the broken ourselves, 

It takes a village to raise a standard.