I got no dad that I know of.
My mama's scarcely seen.
My aunt takes care of all of us.
Her boyfriend's really mean.
There's danger on my city street,
there's danger in my school,
there's danger at my local store -
if I'm not lookin' cool.
I've come too far to turn back now,
I've come too far to change.
I've come too far inside the gang -
you prob'ly think I'm strange.
If I don't have the tattoo'd marks
with gang I'm runnin' in -
If I don't have my gun and knife,
there's no way I will win.
I've learned my lesson, know it well.
and if I have to chance -
I'll use my gun if there's a need.
The fittest will romance -
and start the cycle once again
to bring another child
into the war zone I'm in now
where hate and anger's wild.
Ya' think God's Ten Commandments here
will do us any good?
Our culture isn't going to change
from here within 'the hood'.
"Thou shalt not kill", "thou shalt not steal" -
Who listens to them words?
And even your Supreme Court said
those words are 'for the birds'.
No, I grew up in culture where
there is no safe escape -
where sirens fill the midnight skies
and morning finds bright tape -
surrounding yet another scene
where one more body lay -
where each one has an answer for -
...but has nothing to say.
I cried when I saw sister there -
my little flower bud -
her smiling face, forever gone
inside her pool of blood.
It's not a 'group' that must be saved,
but individuals -
and I pray now that God would shake
their thick and stubborn skulls.
Some good old-fashioned discipline
is needed once again.
Respect is needed - and despite
the color of the skin.
And every individual
must learn it from God's Son.
It takes a real man to love.
It starts with only one.
Am I the one to lead this gang
that they be real men -
where we can live in full respect
and humbleness again?
Some think they're tough when they can hold
a gun to garner fear -
but now I know it takes more guts
to shed one loving tear.
©2013 louis gander ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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(This poem was written not to judge but rather to save lives and souls.
It involves ALL cultures to some degree or another because
we all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God.
The culture is obvious to all of us. The 'fault' is not to argue.
America's "melting pot" MUST have ingredients that melt and God MUST be in that mix.
The ONLY solution to gang violence is our confession, our repentance,
our forgiveness and our faithfulness through God's grace.
If respect is lost, there is no obedience to the parents, the teachers or the law.
REAL discipline does not embarrass the child in public (find a quiet place),
nor does it hit, slap, yell, denigrate the child or show disrespect -
but rather understands, uplifts, reasons, educates, loves and is most always mixed with tears.)
