Tommy was a Good Kid

Tommy was a Good Kid

Tommy wasn’t a bad kid

just a bit disconnected

like most kids are these days

there really was no one to talk to

no one who could relate

to what he was feeling inside

and no one who could explain it to him

you see

Mom was doing the best she could

she was fighting her own demons

never enough money

no man

Dad gave his life to . . .

his country ?

over in Afghanistan

killing people

for no apparent reason

getting killed

for no apparent reason

there were plenty of guys

coming around

but mom,

she wasn’t having that

the other kids on the block

in the hood

neighborhood that is

were handling their biz

but Tommy

he wasn’t about those things

they were doing

and though Tommy was not much for Church

it seemed like it was the only place

he could go every once in a while

a be alone

there were a lot of lonely people there

maybe that is why they went there in the first place

because they could not face the world outside

so they went there to hide

and blamed it on Jesus

Tommy, he saw the game

and every time that Preacher shouted

in the Name of Jesus

they would either pass the plate

begging for money

calling it offerings and tithes

they had it all figured out

shout a little

a few Amens

and that is the formula

on how they put it down

again and again

Yeah, Church was entertaining

but it was not sustaining anything

for Tommy

it was just another game

with a few misplaced names

out on the block

Tommy’s peers

were on the clock

slangin’ that thang

that Ying and that Yang

that made people forget

what life was really about

you know

the struggle

of day by day

putting up

with all this false bullshit

what the hell was life about anyway

Tommy wondered

Tommy tried it a while

but Tommy wanted so much more

his style was not their style

Tommy could not relate

School .. 

Tommy was a smart kid too

but what the fuck would Algerbra

and Mrs. Garenda’s Science class

do for you

or me Tommy thought

was life all about money

and things ?

Tommy had questions

but who had answers

sure many people thought they did

but when Tommy

surveyed and examined their lives

they didn’t have nothing

discernable going on

nothing Tommy would want

or that was sustainably meaningful to him

so what the fuck do you want Tommy

he would often ask himself

but again

the answers never came

and Tommy remained

disconnected

like so many other Tommys out there

and Marys too

Now what are we going to do

now that Tommy is dead

Headlines :

14 Year Old Youth  Takes Gun to School

Kills 13 and takes own Life

Tommy was a Good Kid

© 5 August 2011 : William S. Peters, Sr.