Pray To Escape

Frightened at what his eyes had found Young Ben Wilson looked around Shuttered windows, broken glass drug dealers, the smell of grass Each day he prayed that he'd escape a culture of gang wars and rape In school he earned the highest grades Junior year, shot up to six feet, eight A basketball scholarship was his for sure and he'd be rich when he matured All of Chicago was rooting for Ben his senior year about to start, and then Gangland style -- shot in the head Ben Wilson's name midst the ghetto's dead Thirty-five years passed, not much has changed The shootings continue, just the names rearranged