I WISH I COULD GO BACK (FOR UNCLE ANT)
flipping through the pages of a photo album
i am reminded of what life is about and sometimes
i wish i could go back
sometimes i just wish i could go back
i wish i could go back to this picture of my favorite x-mas
i remember i was on honor roll so mom got me
everything on my wish list
a couple of kangols, green suede pumas
a rope chain with a medallion that said my name
a swatch watch, a boom box and two tapes
T La Rock and Dougie Fresh instrumental beatbox
man i was in b-boy heaven
i thought i was dreaming as i spun on my back
sometimes, i wish i could go back
i remember waking up just two days after x-mas
to find all my new stuff missing
i’m thinking maybe my mom put it somewhere
so I’m looking all around the house even down in the kitchen
i checked every room, every closet—but yet its still missing
in the basement i find my uncle sitting with his eyes glistening
i asked him “have you seen my stuff?”
but he just nodding he not even listening
and when i looked in his eyes it hurt
cause i realized i had become the latest victim to my uncle’s addiction
my mom can replace all the stuff
but there is something missing in me she can never get back
sometimes i wish i could go back
i wish i could go back to when the pain was gone
as i look at this picture of my uncle in his high school football uniform
i remember telling everybody i wanted to be just like you
when all the other kids wanted to be like Dr. J or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
when OJ Simpson was running through airports
and Reggie Jackson had his own candy bar
you was my uncle and you was my hero
you was the pride and joy of our family
you was the all-state, college bound running back
i remember my brother and i would stay up late
to hear your often over exaggerated after game recaps
you’d tell us how the other team had an illegal defense
with 12 men on the field and they still couldn’t stop you
cause you were just ‘the man’
how you scored three touchdowns with three men on your back
sometimes, i wish i could go back
i wish i could go back to this picture
where you were all dressed up in this tux for your high school prom
i wish there was something, anything i could do
to prevent that girl that is with you from becoming your baby’s moms
cause although i love my little cousin
i just wish he had came at a later time
then maybe you would have had the opportunity
to go to michigan state instead of graduating to the university of vietnam
you said you had to take care of your son
so instead of running with the ball you were now running with a gun
if you never went to vietnam
you probably would have never been introduced to drugs
and you wouldn’t have been a junkie when you came back
so, honestly i just want my Uncle Anthony back!
