Notes About The Poem

Ben Wilson was a 17-year old basketball phenom from Chicago's South Side with a bright future in front of him, when he was cruelly murdered late summer 1984....

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

Copyright © | Year Posted 2019



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Date: 9/26/2019 5:37:00 AM
This is so terribly frightening, and we need assault rifles now too? WHY? Who needs them? CRAZY!
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Wolf Avatar
Gershon Wolf
Date: 9/26/2019 1:07:00 PM
Well, I guess the argument goes like this: 'It's the principle of the thing: First they take away our assault rifles. And pretty soon they'll outlaw knives in the school cafeteria." Only problem is, we've outlawed knives, but not MK-47's. All I know is that the NRA club in my high school was made up of anti-social weirdos and neo-Nazis. LOSERS! ~ gw
Date: 9/25/2019 3:11:00 PM
So sad Gershon! Well written to show us the situation :)
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Wolf Avatar
Gershon Wolf
Date: 9/25/2019 3:31:00 PM
You are so right. It was so sad. Thousands turned out from all over the city--not just from the South Side ghetto--for this young man's funeral. It was horrible. So much promise taken with one random bullet... :) gw
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