IP Inkwell Penumbra

Skin Deep
By KarlD

Pre- Release Listen Here: https://emastered.com/tracks/skin-deep-7

Skin Deep is more than a song to me—it is one of life’s lessons that first found its voice as a poem. This is the first time I’m releasing a poem alongside the song it inspired, because my poetry has always been the foundation of my songwriting. I hope these words encourage you to look beyond what first captures your eyes and toward what truly deserves your heart.

“Beauty was always meant to introduce herself. Character is what remains after beauty has gone home.”

Skin Deep
By KarlD

🎧 Listen Here: https://emastered.com/tracks/skin-deep-7

She caught my eye...

and for a moment,
time did what time has always done
when beauty walks into the room—

it paused.

Not because beauty
deserves worship,

but because God
never intended my eyes
to be blind.

I've admired His artistry
in every shade of brown.

Honey
that borrowed light
from the morning sun.

Golden caramel
that carried warmth
before a single word
ever crossed her lips.

Cinnamon...
wrapped in quiet confidence.

Rich mahogany,
holding generations
inside a single smile.

Midnight beauty,
reflecting stars
that daylight never notices.

I've admired
every masterpiece
His hands have painted.

And I never apologized
for seeing beauty.

But somewhere along life's journey,
I confused
what caught my attention
with what deserved my commitment.

I mistook chemistry
for compatibility.

Desire
for discernment.

Excitement
for evidence.

I thought attraction
was telling me
what love had found...

when all it had really found
was something beautiful
to look at.

Then...

life became my teacher.

Mirrors
never negotiate
with time.

Flowers
never argue
with autumn.

Perfume
cannot convince
the wind to stay.

And youth...

no matter how breathtaking...

eventually bows
to tomorrow.

Beauty
was always meant
to introduce herself.

Character
is what remains
after beauty
has gone home.

That lesson
changed everything.

Today,
I still admire
a beautiful woman.

I'd be lying
if I claimed otherwise.

God gave me eyes.

He simply expected me
to use my heart
before I trusted them.

Now...

I notice
how she speaks
to people
who have nothing
to offer her.

I notice
whether humility
wears her
better than fashion.

Whether peace
follows her...

or drama
arrives before she does.

Whether wisdom
fills the silence...

or attention
fills the room.

Those things
never wrinkle.

Integrity
doesn't age.

Kindness
never loses
its beauty.

Wisdom
never goes
out of style.

Faith
never fades
with the seasons.

Those are the things
time
cannot steal.

So yes...

I still admire
every beautiful shade
of God's brown sugar.

Every smile.

Every graceful stride.

Every reflection
of His creativity.

But I no longer stop
where beauty begins.

Because I've learned
that a beautiful face
may capture
my attention...

yet only
a beautiful spirit

can hold
my admiration

my respect

my peace

and one day...

if God so chooses...

my hand.

For beauty...

is a blessing.

But character...

is the covenant.

And I have learned
to seek

what was never

Skin Deep.

Is the Squeeze Worth My Peace?
By KarlD

Dedicated to four brothers who strengthen my life in different ways: three close friends—my Brothers in the Bond and members of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Incorporated—and my blood brother, outside the Fraternity Bond but forever bound to me by blood, history, love, and his unwavering reminder to protect the Focus.

One Brother asked me,
“Is the juice worth the squeeze?”
and the question stayed with me—
because every pressure does not deserve
the labor of my anger.

Some people press buttons
hoping my reaction
will become their reward.

But I have paid too much for peace
to spend it proving
I can still be provoked.

A second Brother reminded me,
“There is power in prayer.”

Not passive power.
Not frightened power.

The kind that makes a grown man pause
until pride quits speaking for him;
the kind that closes his mouth
long enough for God
to open his eyes.

Prayer may not remove the pressure,
but it can remove
the pressure’s authority.

Then a third Brother said,
“No Stress.”

Two words
with enough room to breathe.

Not feel nothing.
Not bury the hurt.

Black men have worn enough masks
and called the weight strength.

Jesus wept—
so tears cannot make us weak.

Emotional maturity is feeling the fire
without handing it the wheel.

In solitude,
I inspect my spirit:

Is this truth speaking,
or a bruised ego?

Is this a battle,
or only bait?

Will my response serve my purpose,
or merely satisfy the moment?

Maybe the test is not
whether trouble comes.

Maybe the test is determining
what leads me through it—

my wounded emotion
or my living faith.

To Black men beneath every sky:

Calm is not cowardice.
A pause is not surrender.

Walking away is not defeat
when God is pointing forward.

We can name the wound,
pray through the wound,
and still refuse
to build a home inside it.

And then there is
my blood brother—

outside the Bond,
but never outside
the reach of my heart.

He calls me back to
theFocus—

that disciplined place
where purpose becomes louder
than distraction,

where emotions are acknowledged
but never permitted
to rewrite the assignment.

His encouragement reminds me
that focus is more
than looking forward.

It is knowing
what deserves my attention,
what belongs in prayer,
and what must be left behind.

Blood made us brothers.
Life made him a witness.
Love made his voice
one I carry into the quiet.

Whenever something reaches
for my focus,
I look to Jesus
and remember:

God has me.

I do not need the last word
when the Word already covers me.

My brother reminds me
that focus is not
the absence of noise—

it is remembering
Who called my name
before the noise
ever learned it.

So I honor all four—

three Brothers in the Bond
and one brother of my blood—

four voices,
four forms of love:

Discernment.
Prayer.
Release.
theFocus.

Their counsel reminds me
that achievement is not only
what a man builds before the world,

but what he refuses
to let the world distract, diminish,
or destroy within him.

“Is the juice worth the squeeze?”

If it costs the peace
God gave me—
the answer is no.

“There is power in prayer.”

So I kneel
before I answer.

“No Stress.”

I leave the stress where it is,
leave the outcome with God,
and rise—

not untouched,
but unruled.

With my Brothers beside me,
my faith before me,
and theFocus within me,

I move forward—

because God has me,
peace guards me,
prayer strengthens me,

and no distraction
will be permitted
to finish a sentence
God never authored.

Glory!

Husband First
By KarlD

Top Quote:

“A wife is someone I may find. A husband is someone I must become.”

They asked me,

“Do you want a wife,
or do you want to be a husband?”

At fifty-six,
that question don’t sound the way it used to.

Years ago,
I would’ve answered with desire.

A warm hand.
A soft place to land.
Someone to ride shotgun
through the storms.

Back then,
I thought love was finding somebody.

Now I know
love is becoming somebody.

Life has a way of teaching that lesson.

The mirror taught me.

The empty side of the bed taught me.

The prayers I prayed
when nobody was listening taught me.

The scars taught me.

The healing taught me.

I used to think marriage
was about finding the right woman.

Now I know
it’s about becoming the right man.

Because wanting a wife
is easy.

You can want companionship.

Want affection.

Want loyalty.

Want somebody
to celebrate your victories
and hold you through your losses.

But being a husband—

that’s different.

That’s showing up
when nobody is clapping.

That’s keeping your word
when it costs you something.

That’s carrying peace
into a room
instead of bringing your chaos with you.

That’s apologizing
without writing a defense speech.

That’s protecting her heart
the same way you expect her
to protect your trust.

That’s standing in the rain
when every selfish bone in your body
wants to run for cover.

A husband is not a title.

A husband is a discipline.

A covenant.

A daily decision.

A man choosing
the harder right
over the easier wrong.

And somewhere along this road,
God changed my prayer.

I stopped asking,

“Lord, send me a wife.”

And started asking,

“Lord, make me a husband.”

Make me patient.

Make me honest.

Make me accountable.

Make me the kind of man
who can be trusted
with someone’s forever.

Because a wife is someone
I may find.

In God’s timing.

On an ordinary day.

Without warning.

Without chasing.

Without performance.

But a husband—

a husband is someone
I must become.

Today.

Not when the ring comes.

Not when the vows are spoken.

Not when somebody chooses me.

Today.

So if she arrives tomorrow,

she won’t meet a man
waiting to start.

She’ll meet a man
already doing the work.

Still healing.

Still growing.

Still learning.

But already becoming.

And if love finds me there,

may she discover
what I’ve been building all along—

not an empty promise,

but a husband first.

PRE-RELEASE: “LOVE YOU FREE”

Written by KarlD
Performed by Inkwell Penumbra

“Sometimes letting go with honor is the proof you rose above.”

This is a grown man’s love song about healing, release, and learning that real love does not possess—it frees. This is to my new love interest. You don’t deserve a man with baggage.

Listen to the pre-release. Feel the message. Share your thoughts.

https://emastered.com/tracks/love-your-free