I’ve heard success stories of people
raised in ghettos
who have escaped it,
risen to the top
because they worked their tails off
come hell or high water
they refused to be stopped
By:J.N.R Dutton
I’ve heard success stories of people
raised in ghettos
who have escaped it,
risen to the top
because they worked their tails off
come hell or high water
they refused to be stopped
By:J.N.R Dutton
Mark never graduated High School, not even a GED
He wasn’t on the path to success as far as anyone could see
but all that changed, in the Summer of 1983
He built a business from scratch quietly
w/scraped together money & some creativity
Despite how lazy some thought him to be
He was a hard worker, surprisingly
He just wanted to earn his way non-traditionally
By:J.N.R Dutton
All you do means nothing
if you don’t keep the soul in your success
anything done w/the wrong motives will leave you
with a cold, dark, emptiness
That is just a cold hard fact
The truth here I’ve laid down
You don’t want to waste your time
gaining a worthless rusty crown
By:J.N.R Dutton
It gets easier all the time to sit down at the keys
and just bleed reams of poetry,
but the questions at all times for me
is: Are they poems people will actually read?
Will they touch lives meaningfully?
Am I keeping the soul in my success?
Am I writing things of substance,
or some stupid rambling mess?
When you dedicate your soul to a dream,
& I’m not talking about a fleeting fantasy,
I mean something meaningful,
concrete…something you’re totally
driven to complete,
when you see it fulfilled,
success achieved, it’s amazing just
how much joy it can bring
By:J.N.R Dutton
He had many false starts, broken hearts
& broken dreams
He knew too well that the world could be mean
but he polished his talents until they gleamed
& worked like a dog, knew that’s what was needed
& finally at last, he succeeded
By: J.N.R Dutton
His art and rhymes taking off like a rocket
Putting a little scratch in his pocket
He believes greed makes people act the fool
but he will admit green can be a helpful tool
Keeps a roof over his family’s head,
keeps them all fed
buys a cup of coffee & a loaf of bread,
at least he’s not lying homeless, or in a gutter dead
By: J.N.R Dutton
It’s not always easy having a writing or art career
before finding success, some people take years
but the key is persistence, going all in despite your fears
I’m forever thankful for the people
who gave me the encouragement
& criticism that I needed to hear
both things in equal measure
have gotten me here
By: J.N.R Dutton
After years & years of struggling,
the fruit of his labors are rolling in
Everybody he knows, is cheering him,
saying, “man, you finally made it big”
He says “yeah that’s true” with a huge Texas grin
Sometimes, people ask him:
“what’s it like being
an overnight sensation”
and he breaks into a laughing fit
every time he hears it,
He says:
“this was a marathon, not a sprint
& you don’t know the time, the blood,
or the tears I spent, man, I’ll tell you this,
calling me an overnight sensation
really cheapens it”
By: J.N.R Dutton
If someone is going to succeed, they need to be willing,
to work, sweat, & bleed in order to give their dreams wings
to take flight on…
They shouldn’t do things just to cash in
or because they’re in fashion,
instead, they should find
their calling, their passion
By: J.N.R Dutton