Another shooting on
the southeast side
This a drive-by midday
Outside of the bus stop
by Fuller and Franklin
or near there not
far from the park
About a block from where
the other shooting
was last month
Or was it last week
Shots were fired from
an SUV heading
northbound Eastown
The target a rival
but they didn't hit
the target this time
They hit a kid we think
had nothing to
do with it
And I travel
backwards through time
and space and
I disintegrate
become invisible
I wanna see it where
I couldn't
when it happened
I wanna see it all
first hand this time
I want to know
what it felt like
So I float
behind police lines
Reconstruct the scene
in fragments of memories
I wanna know what
his mother looked
like up close
I wanna see her
leaning over his body
So I float there
transcend time
I wanna capture
it accurately
I wanna know what the
color of the blood was
Spilling out from the
tarp onto the concrete
I wanna write
it all down so I can
always remember
If you could
see it up close
how could you ever forget
How senseless death
how precious life
I wanna be there
when the bullet hit
And the crowd poured out
as the shots drowned
into siren sounds
Out of their houses
now and over front yards
All the way up to
the place where
the police tape ran
to mark the crime scene
Everybody trying
to catch a glimpse of
what was happening
Of what was going on
between the ambulance
and all the cop cars
Everybody gossiping
Whose kid got hit
Where'd it hit him
and who could've fired it
Everybody wondering
How did it happen again
and is he dead
These children our kids
Everybody wondering
how far they were from
where the victims lived
And I visit
them their houses
Inside my dream
I visit them
My spirit soaring high
and high up
over King Park
Leaves the crime scene
travels further back
'Til far before
the shooting
Through their windows
To their living rooms
I see them younger
this time playing games
and doing homework
All these marks of youth
Soon transformed
coldly into stone
For fights and
stupid feuds
For ruins wrapped in gold
And cruelly I recall
why I have come
to find a reason
But there cannot be
a reason not for death
Not like this
Not like this
Three days later
they made funeral
plans the family
Three days later
a mother had to
bury her son
Not far away
the shooter holed
up in a hotel
Near to the highway
with a friend
and the gun
That same gun
He'd fled immediately
but was identified
by witnesses
His picture on TV
only twenty years old
They called him Grandpa
He was older than
the others by a year
maybe two and
he was safe for awhile
until somebody
saw him there
And notified
the authorities
Who surrounded the hotel
First arresting
an accomplice while
attempting to flee
Then chasing him up
the staircase to
the floor where
he'd stayed
He closed the door
hard behind him
Locked himself
in the room
They could've kicked
in the door
But knew the gun
was still with him
One he'd already
used and so they
feared what he'd do
I floated up through
the window of
a room to the West
I hovered out to
the hallway tried
to listen in
I heard them trying
to reason get him
to open the door
His uncle begging
and pleading halfcollapsed
to the floor
He preached of hope
and forgiveness
Said there is always
a chance to rectify
what you've taken
Make your peace in the world
I thought to slip through
the door I could've
entered the room
I felt the burden
of murder it shook
the earth to the core
Felt like the world
was collapsing
Then we heard him speak
Can I still get
into Heaven if
I kill myself
Can I still
get into Heaven
if I kill myself
Can I ever be
forgiven 'cause
I killed that kid
It was an accident
I swear it wasn't
meant for him
And if I turn it on me
If I even it out
Can I still get
in or will they
send me to Hell
Can I still get
into Heaven if
I kill myself
I left the hotel behind
Don't wanna know
how it ends