Sirens slowly become silent as if choking on life...
the part that's hard to swallow with nothing easy to wash it down
all in order to draw the neighborhood's attention to what's going on
It's a nice day...so it becomes some sort of perverse picnic
where young lives are being picked...
reminiscent of white hoods and the good ol' days

Flashers dance wildly on top of the cars
like a break-dancer on ecstasy
bathing the street in the red, white, and blue tattoo of America
The paddy wagon sits idling, blocking all traffic, mouth open
eagerly awaiting its afternoon snack...
a ghetto vampire sucking life from its surroundings
surrounded by 3 other cars and 8 policeman

Little kids on the corner, parents nowhere in sight
play with basketballs and dance to the same rhythm as the flashers
they take bets on what's going to happen and utter statements like:
"They wouldn't have caught me..." and believe it
Some get too close to the festivities
and are abruptly turned away like underage club goers with bad fakes

Adults on porches with peeling paint
resembling a poor man's throne
turn up their noses and pass judgment on everyone...
shaking their heads
and leaving "It's a damn shames" and "I knew them when they were littles" on the air
to float down on preoccupied ears

The cops grimace and glare as if looking directly at the sun
showing their shame, anger, and displeasure with the situation
afraid that if they look too long
they may see themselves...
or their sons
all looks their direction
are met with daggers from their eyes
killing all curiosity and questions any passersby may have

They shout directions in the general direction of the 4 young men
speaking at instead of to them
probably the stories of their lives
but no one would know
and most are too afraid or disinterested to ask
and assume they know the story

Answers to questions cops already know
come out in that tone of slight defiance
laced with the sad knowledge that it's too late
Questions with no answers show on their faces
maybe pondering mistakes and missed chances
but mostly trying to figure out how they were caught

They are the main characters in this minstrel show
this sad, not quite Shakespearean spectacle
put on as a warning to all other residents...
Now showing at 7:00
see what happens when you test the law
when you try to survive
when you do what you have to

Its a free show
with the only cost for entry being that you judge the characters
and make blanket statements
and when the news cameras come around
you say how its a shame that people throw away their lives
and that if you work hard enough
you can be anything