What I See!

The exclamation mark in the title is no oversight: it is printed exactly that way in the book. What I See! belongs to the second part of The Rose That Grew from Concrete (“Nothing Can Come Between Us”), joining a group of love poems there in which Cupid appears as a figure. The text relies on emphasis rather than hesitant hints: it is the wooing of a partner who shrinks back from her own feelings.

With Closed Eyes He Sees the Chance

The poem opens with a paradox: with his eyes closed of all things, the speaker sees that both have a chance at great happiness. The woman he addresses, by contrast, is blinded by “clouds of doubt” and fears the feelings she might find. He knows she was hurt in the past, but refuses to accept that as an excuse to ignore the seed Cupid has planted.

The main body works with imagery from nature. The budding feeling must be allowed to breathe and grow. A neglected flower withers and dies; with honesty, passion, and mutual respect, however, both could soar beyond the sky. In the end, he asks her not to follow what she sees, but the rhythm in her heart. She should believe him, even though she cannot make out in the dark what lies there.

This Time the Rose Needs Care

The flower that needs tending is a favorite image of the young Tupac. Best known is the title poem The Rose That Grew from Concrete, in which a rose grows out of concrete without any care at all. In What I See!, the situation is reversed: here the little plant needs care, or it will die. The motif of a wounded partner who cannot open up recurs in When I Do Kiss U.

Persuasion Rather Than Lament

What stands out is how self-assured the speaker is in courting her: it is not he who doubts, but she. The poem is thus less a lament than a persuasive speech. It is undated; according to the preface by Afeni Shakur, the poems were written between 1989 and 1991.

More about the book and all poems in the introduction.