The day of your funeral, I promised to do something with "Da Block"
our play, keep your name alive, I spoke to you said I promised
your face so swollen, smothered in make up to hide the blue bruises
& dried up blood the mortician couldn't cover up
your neck caved in taunting us of our loss
your athletic body plump with phlemerdihide
Reinas screams echoe in the church
so many of your boys in RIP Velle shirts and sweatshirts
your cousins, your girls they all wore them like trading cards
half wanted to slap them for glamorizing your death half wanted to get one made
the preacher spoke on brothers killing brothers, not sure anyone heard it, except the choir
seems like you ain't from the hood unless you got an RIP something or other and the more you got the more down you are
my last words to you "yeah" when you said this is "bootsy now"
both of us frustrated your classmates not coming through with their lines
the play you co-wrote and co-directed never got staged, not even on film
but you were down,
you all had to listen to my speech mediocracy is all you strive for, it's all that expected of you, that's all you think you know
I know you had more, you always had more
now I'm finding out it's always promising youth like you who get caught in the cross fire
too proud to forget where you from, too much for the hood, haters always hatin'
running laps in my head cauz nothings new about this in the hood
the first thing said was not Davelle, no not Davelle
see I wrote a piece about, How in Drama class kids from the block, roll joints better than they spell, cut up white sweet tarts to look like yayo or crystal meth roll it up in the corner of a sandwich bag
how every hood grows little boy blues, like weeds in a forgotten lot, turn to automatic gun splatters
but it was never about you
before I knew statistics name, before I fell into reality from informed reader to friend
outside the morturary Reina showed me her tat ,
RIP Davelle, forever on her left arm a badge of valor
all I have is a memory of you inside a coffin in your favorite scarface t-shirt on
and I just don't wanna cry no more
SEE we do have a choice
It's a choice in a split second
It's a choice in a split second
It's a choice in a split second
That means your LIFE
