Dear Officials, Coaches , Cheerleaders, Players and Spectators

My closest friends on the High school Basketball team

Coolest around

Most of our rivals played in other towns

We shot rounds on playgrounds

Every now and then

Some players go out of bounds

That's when the clock stops

If the Officials pay attention

You might hear a sound

For us, it's normal to shoot and play above the rim

On the court, this is no sin

Sometimes players talk junk

This day the opponent went on a fast break

He ran to his trunk

Not a pump fake

But fake with the pump

He drove to the hole for a slam dunk

Not a lay up

From below the rim

See somebody laid up

Nobody called the Offensive foul?

Wow!

He moves...

Pass the ball for a sawed off tool

Pass the see-saw and merry go round of an elementary school playground

That ain't cool

It all happened so fast

I wasn't there when the courses took path

I skipped English

For a brief History

In the after-Math

School homework is important

But Life is the class

The phone rang

They told me one one my best friends had almost been slain

What?

Shot like eight times

A few in the head

I heard what they said and thought for sure he was dead

I couldn't sit in class throughout out the day

And let time pass away

Knowing this could be the last day my relative lay

So I skipped school and went to the hospital to visit my cousin

I broke down when I saw all the tubes and how they stuffed him

His nickname was Swan

Now a duckling

So ugly

Dark and not lovely

Face all bruised and puffy

Once, we...

Hooped for the Huskies

So he was normally drug free

Now doped up like a drug fiend

Unconscious from all the suffering

And blood leaks

Too much speech

His body language said "don't touch me"

Before the vision could crush me

I escaped to the hallway, luckily

I stole a chair and drew my own space

It took sixty seconds to get my dome straight

I cleared my throat and questioned his fate

It was hard to take a soft face that was nearly erased

Still here by God's Grace

That first night I got home late

How did this happen?

Yesterday we were laughing

Now today it's so tragic

The disappearing act was magic

But nothing fantastic

From class I had to abort

F#c% the school board

Life is too short

And f#c% a Newport

To put it short

They told me how some foul words on the basketball court

Made the shooter charge to basket shooting bullets for sport

I shoulda coulda woulda picked him up in my Ford

A stick shift with four doors

But that wasn't important

The ambulance was his Escort

And due to circumstances, a better transport

And my car wasn't fast enough

Or gassed enough

To stop the blast enough

Should I grab me a gun and start acting tough?

Am I man enough?

I'm not even thinking about my hands in cuffs

My brother ain't standing up

A shotgun shell full of buck shots

Damn that sucks

Thank God it wasn't slugs, but...

Still enough damages for bandages

A few pellets in the face, chest and shoulders

From the initial report, we all thought it was over

Much confusion when you grip the news second hand

Guess again

I rather go to the source and check the man

Everything happens for a reason

God must have a lesson planned

Some people get a second chance

Now the question is...

Do I wanna use this weapon in my hand?

That whole week I took an I.C.U. vacation

I see you

Doctors and nurses in co-operations

Working on patients

And patients

Working on patience

Me looking back at the situation

And he, looking forward to recuperation

More gauze and medication

Therapy and reparation

From in-animation to standing ovation

More cause for celebration

We eventually saw graduation

Despite whatever grades

Some of us barely made it

Some of us didn't make it to class to even get graded

I never knew basketball could be so dangerous

For Officials, Coaches, Cheerleaders, Players and Spectators