we stop throwin up jump shots cuz the rim seen better days  
 whole hood seen better days    
   whole hood bent & cracked & been      
     held together on a prayer despite the shallow bricks &        
       the homie says these the hours where black boys vanish        
      says we gotta find shelter before teeth grow through all this twilight        
      says one time I looked up at the moon and I haven’t seen my big brother since        
      says I guess this skin we wear expires with the sun        
      says we were born into curfew & I think
        what a way to be young & alive             
          but then we hear the vibrant song of sirens cutting through the night               
            & even as boys our legs know to carry us to someone’s grandma’s crib                 
              & we don’t yet know why & we don’t yet understand the way                   
              a grandmother’s arms linger around our fragile limbs for a few seconds                     
                   longer when we finally make it home breathing & in the winter                      
                     danny lost track of time shooting free throws                        
                       & we had to bury his body, still brimming with bullets & then                          
                           none of the black boys                              
                              got new basketballs for

                                                                               christmas.