The Kid from Philly

A Kid from Philly

When they first heard
your name, they
called you many more

A kid
A draft pick
A prodigy
A boy from Philly

When you found your way
They called you a few more
Brilliant
Talented
A gunslinger
Too trigger happy
An All-Star

And with those names
Comes Fame
Though the latter birthed
The elder
It is strange what happens
When you take the
World and shape it
In your hands
And your hands did
Wonders
Not everyone called
You his airness
But they compared
The snapshots
Of jumpers you
Both pulled
They heard of your
Work ethic and found
Out how much
You loved Mike
But we grew learning to
Love Kobe

We cheered when you
leapt on Shaq like
A child meeting
His brother
As confetti came
down on the
Staples Center
In 2000.
Kobe and Shaq
Back-to-Back
Had a nice ring--
Or two--
To it
And three times
Was the charm.

I can't forget the
Controversy
I can't leave out
Colorado and be
Confident in your innocence
But at least you lived
With that mystery
At least you lived
With that truth

At least you lived

You found a desire to
Get more
After an MVP season
Two years where you
Were robbed
And two Finals losses
You earned another chip
And made it four
And then you kept
LA out of a dive
You actually BEAT Boston
For title number five

I cheered against you
On that day
But my respect for your game?
It couldn't go away.
On the hardwood
I imitated you like
Weeknd does Michael Jackson
Like Michael Jackson
Imitated James Brown
And I realize the
Great ones leave too soon

It's a privilege to
Be old
And you don't know
Where someone goes when
They die
But we didn't ask you
To leave
To take literal flight
In the sky and
Then all of a
Sudden

Die.

But even warriors die
And we forget that
Life is a war
We battle for every
Moment on Earth
But can't score.

We are men and women
It is a privilege to
Be remembered
And I feel you won't
Easily be forgotten.
A king passed you in
A golden record book
Of this world's greatest game
And he showed himself
To be worthy
Of a crown
But he bowed to the
Name he surpassed
He looked up to
You as well, I'm sure
He was a kid from Akron
Who wondered who
This kid from Philly was
When he found out
I'm sure he was in awe.

When we think of you
Now
We wonder if
We'll see you again.