If I died today
People would talk.
They’d talk about my potential and how good I coulda been,
If the cruel hands of death hadn’t taken me away.
They’d say it was a shame and how “oh she coulda been.”
“She coulda been a doctor. She hated to see people suffer.”
“She coulda been a lawyer.
She wouldn’t give up without a fight.”
She coulda been a writer
Her mind flowed with ideas
She coulda been a teacher
Her wisdom exceeded her years.
She coulda been billionaire…
An African woman on Forbes
She coulda been a mother, a wife and so much more.
She coulda done so much and been good at it too.
Cause in high school she shone so bright, she was one of the few.
She was the one to watch. The one to emulate.
She was the one to be successful the one to be great.
Yes, they’ll all gather around my grave
And in the midst of the tears and mourning
They’ll say she coulda been the one as the funeral’s adjourning
They wouldn’t think for a minute that the world wasn’t in my hands
That being one of the greatest wasn’t in the plan.
They wouldn’t be able to imagine that the mighty could’ve fallen
That the world coulda gotten better of me and noope I wouldn’t be ballin’
No they’d say “She coulda been anything cause the world was her oyster”
They’d say all that cause no one wants to imagine that dead person would have faltered.
And that’s why I would rather die for fear of the unknown
That I could be on billboards or out hawking phones
If I live I could falter and then the talk would turn bad
From oh she how coulda been great to oh she was so sad.
It’s ironic how after I die the talk about me would all be good.
They’ll say I was beautiful and never bad just misunderstood.
So let me just die now. Stay in the ground to rot.
Cause I’d rather my story end with a “She could have been” than with a “She was not.”