I have a mother, I have a paWe look pretty in that picture on the wallI love my brothers and my sisters tooLord, forgive them, for they know not what they doMy mama never taught me 'bout the world'Cause the world turned her inside outMy pa was the right arm of the lawKept us all locked in the houseMy brothers and my sisters needed loveSo I grew and they clung to meTill I became the roots and the fruitsAnd the branches on my family treePain carved its nameAnd my heart froze like winterAnd the splinter kindled embersLay forgotten till they blossomedAnd they were hangin' out on a limbAll those hopes and dreams just blowing in the windAll my aunties and my uncles tooSaid "she'll be back and pregnant on her own in a month or two"My mama kicked me out of the houseOn the day I turned 17My daddy called me up and told meBoxes of my stuff was sittin' on the streetFelt like I had the world on my shouldersBut really, it was at my feetTill I became the roots and the fruitsAnd the branches on my family treePain carved its nameAnd my heart froze like winterAnd the splinter kindled embersLay forgotten till they blossomedMy family tree, I have wateredTill it's outgrown my gardenAll these years bleeding tearsI'm at peace underneathMy family treeMy family treeMy family tree