Curtis Deondre CLUTCH-TIME Cook

My Apologies

In my lifetime, I've studied the globe but only made it halfway around the world just to see the same look on a thousand faces. I have witness kindness without reason, cruelty without cause, and disregard without blindness. Alone, I have rode the open road across mountains and borders, seen sunsets high above the clouds, touched colored cliffs under clear blue waters, walked the desert under night skies, and traveled to foreign lands. On a dare, I have stood alone atop a cold white mountain, stared at the endless sea, touched the equator at its hottest, ran through oil fields on fire, lost in a garden maze, been spit on by a camel, and chased by white-bearded monkeys.

Through it all, I remain well-done, never watered down, and hands-on with it - always committed to being the exception to every rule. I can proudly talk it, walk it, and show you the way all while building something out-of-nothing time-and-time again. A creative thinker with realistic beliefs, I train myself to only feel about things I should feel about, and to only think about things I should think about to function well among others. Like those before me, I've grown old too soon and smart too late to change the things I can't accept, understanding now that the pen is mightier, that pictures only show perception, that rhetoric is never empty, and that it is easier to avoid than to resist.

With the help of a few, I've discovered real music, mastered the secret to a mixed drink, enjoyed the taste of a good cigar, and gained an appreciation of real boots, tailored fabrics, an artisan cane, and a stiff wide brim. Now each day, in every way, I put in the effort to be better, always starting from where I am, using what I have, and doing what I can to make the fight easier. SEE ME, and then look again to find me Somewhere Always in another lane, at a higher gear, on the road less traveled. A stray turned Devil-Dog, made Pedigree, Semper Fi and Semper Paratus.